Edmonton
Serious Incident Response Team investigates after suspect alleges broken nose due to excessive force during arrest.
From the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team
On Aug. 1, 2018, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) was directed to investigate the circumstances surrounding an incident in the early morning of July 30, 2018, involving a pursuit following an attempted vehicle stop by members of the Edmonton Police Service (EPS).
At approximately 12:28 a.m., EPS members observed a vehicle eastbound on 108 Avenue from 101 Street. The licence plate was listed as stolen and officers began to follow the vehicle, which was occupied by a male driver and a woman sitting in the front passenger seat. At 107 Avenue and 98 Street, the man pulled over the vehicle and got out. Police pulled their marked police vehicle in behind, activated the emergency equipment and exited to speak to the man.
The man turned around, returned to his vehicle and drove away, heading west. Police initiated a pursuit that involved multiple EPS vehicles.
During the criminal flight, the vehicle went west on 107 Avenue. The driver accelerated to high speeds, ran a red light and, at approximately 102 Street, appeared to intentionally strike a woman pedestrian and run her over. The vehicle struck a light standard on the north sidewalk, severing it, before continuing west. As some officers stopped to render emergency aid to the pedestrian, others continued after the vehicle.
A patrol vehicle unsuccessfully tried deliberate vehicle contact with the driver’s door of the suspect vehicle to force a stop. Officers in a marked police wagon activated their emergency equipment and, at 103 Street on 107 Avenue, a second attempt to force the man to stop succeeded when the police wagon made contact with the front end of the suspect vehicle as a second police unit made contact with the driver’s side. The driver and passenger fled the scene on foot.
When the 31-year-old man who was allegedly driving the vehicle failed to comply with verbal commands to stop, officers used a conducted energy weapon (CEW), which struck him in the back. The man fell to the ground and was taken into custody. The female passenger evaded apprehension at the time but police found and arrested her on outstanding warrants in the days following the incident.
The pedestrian who was struck and injured during the incident was transported to hospital, where she remains in stable condition.
When the incident occurred, the Edmonton Police Service notified the director of law enforcement of the incident and the decision was to leave the matter with EPS. As EPS started to investigate, they became aware that the driver, in custody at the Edmonton Remand Centre, was alleging that he had sustained a broken nose as a result of a use of force during his arrest. EPS made an additional notification to the director of law enforcement and, on Aug. 1, ASIRT was asked to assume conduct of the investigation.
ASIRT’s investigation will focus on the circumstances surrounding police conduct during the criminal flight response and injuries sustained by the pedestrian and the driver of the vehicle. The EPS has conduct of the investigation into the conduct of the occupants of the vehicle.
With the investigation underway, ASIRT will not make any further comment until the matter is concluded.
ASIRT’s mandate is to effectively, independently and objectively investigate incidents involving police that have resulted in serious injury or death to any person, as well as serious or sensitive allegations of police misconduct.
News release from the City of Edmonton
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City Council has approved the Master Agreement between the City of Edmonton and the Oilers Entertainment Group (OEG) to develop the Public Event Park and the Village at ICE District. Along with the Government of Alberta and the OEG, the City is working to accelerate the development of more housing, new public infrastructure and economic opportunities in the city’s downtown area. In addition to creating new development in the ICE District, the signing of the agreement enables the City to access provincial funding to demolish the Coliseum and continue to progress work on Exhibition Lands.
The total cost of all projects is $408.2 million, which will be shared among all three partners and will deliver:
“This type of investment in downtown helps answer the call of downtown vibrancy and could have a cascade effect to stimulate further investment,” said Edmonton City Manager Eddie Robar. “We thank all our team members that had a part in getting this agreement negotiated and in place, as it was a lot of work and represents a huge step forward.”
The event park, estimated at $250 million, will increase downtown vibrancy with events that bring people downtown including low-to-no-cost events for the community as part of the Public Benefits Agreement. It will also generate positive publicity and enhance Edmonton’s reputation as a world-renowned destination, while adding to the local economy.
The preliminary work for the Village at ICE District, estimated at $68.2 million, will expedite the development of 2,500 new housing units and stimulate an estimated $1 billion in private sector investment. It will also lead to the creation of a new downtown park and enhance public streetscaping, including wider sidewalks and pedestrian crossings.
The Coliseum Demolition and Improvement Project, estimated at $90 million, includes $55 million from the provincial government and $35 million from the City of Edmonton. This project will fund the demolition of the Coliseum and the construction of public infrastructure in Exhibition Lands to help create a unique, centrally-located infill urban community that is well-connected to downtown and other areas of the city in the coming decades.
“These catalytic investments are going to set off the next round of transformational growth and development in our downtown, and these projects demonstrate the impact of real partnership for economic development,” said Puneeta McBryan, CEO of the Downtown Business Association. “It is encouraging for the Edmonton business community to see the Government of Alberta and City of Edmonton working together to take our downtown economy to the next level, coupled with the proven success and significant investment from their partners at Oilers Entertainment Group. We’re so excited to see all of this come to life.”
The City will use revenues from the Capital City Downtown Community Revitalization Levy (CRL) to fund its portion of the Event Park and site servicing for ICE District projects. It will also leverage land development revenues already earmarked in the capital budget for the Coliseum demolition to fund other important early work in the Exhibition Lands development.
Council’s approval of the master agreement and associated capital profiles allows the City to execute the agreement with the OEG, which paves the way for all three projects to progress. The master agreement also ensures that grant agreements between the City and the Province must be executed, confirming the provincial funding contributions for all projects.
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For more information:
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Harshanedeep Singh from rozanaspokesman.com
News release from the Conservative Party of Canada
After nine years, the NDP-Liberal government has lost control of crime. Violent crime has skyrocketed by 50 percent since Trudeau became Prime Minister and 256 people were killed by a criminal who was out on bail or another form of release in 2022, the latest year available with full data.
On Saturday, Canadians witnessed the shocking, heinous murder of Harshandeep Singh, a 20-year-old security guard in Edmonton, Alberta. Singh was shot in the back while thanklessly doing his job as a nighttime security guard at a central Edmonton apartment building. A promising young life was snuffed out by a cold-blooded monster.
“One cannot imagine how Harshandeep’s family and friends feel,” said Tim Uppal, Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family at this incredibly difficult time.”
Edmonton Police have since arrested two individuals and charged them with first degree murder: “Evan Rain, 30, and Judith Saulteaux, 30, were arrested and charged with 1st degree murder in relation to Singh’s death.”
Early indications suggest that Rain has a known prior violent history, with media reports aligning with Rain’s current age. In 2018, an “Evan Chase Francis Rain”, then age 24, was charged for a violent kidnapping in Wetaskiwin, one hour south of Edmonton. A woman was forced into the trunk of a car at gunpoint. It is not clear from media reports how this case was concluded.
In 2022, “Evan Rain, 28, of Paul First Nation” (45 minutes west of Edmonton) faced twenty-nine charges for a violent robbery in northern Saskatchewan involving firearms.
This is from the 2022 RCMP news release at the time:
Evan Rain, 28, of Paul First Nation, is charged with:
-one count, robbery, Section 344, Criminal Code;
-one count, have face masked with intent to commit an indictable offence, Section 351(2), Criminal Code;
-eight counts, possess a firearm knowing it was obtained by the commission of an offence, Section 96(2), Criminal Code;
-one count, possession of property obtained by the commission of an offence, Section 354(1)(a), Criminal Code;
-one count, mischief under $5,000, Section 430(4), Criminal Code;
-sixteen counts, possess a firearm while prohibited, Section 117-01(3), Criminal Code; and
-one count, point a firearm, Section 87(2), Criminal Code.
The status of these charges is not readily apparent. The RCMP’s 2022 news release does make clear that Rain was already prohibited from possessing firearms: “sixteen counts, possess a firearm while prohibited, Section 117-01(3).”
“It appears that our so-called ‘justice’ system terribly failed Harshandeep Singh – just as it has outrageously failed so many others,” said Uppal. “Harshandeep Singh’s murder cannot be accepted as just an unfortunate, unavoidable reality in our society. Authorities should answer to Rain’s prior police interactions and potential criminal history, including whether he was out on bail or some other form of release order.”
Life wasn’t like this before Justin Trudeau. Since the NDP-Liberal government passed Bill C-75 and Bill C-5, which gave high priority to releasing repeat violent offenders and took away mandatory jail time for certain violent crimes, a crime wave has been unleashed across the country. This was evident in a report from the Fraser Institute which showed that Canada’s violent crime rate is 14 percent higher than that of the United States’.
Trudeau’s only response to this has been to crack down on law-abiding firearms owners and Indigenous hunters which has done nothing to improve Canada’s public safety. Instead, violent gun crime is up by a staggering 116 percent since the Liberals formed government.
Enough is Enough. Canadians deserve to feel safe in their communities. Only Common Sense Conservatives will bring home safe streets by ending Justin Trudeau’s catch-and-release justice system and bringing jail, not bail, for repeat violent offenders.
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