Jeremiah Moses filed a civil lawsuit on June 22, claiming RCMP officers used excessive force against him and made up bogus charges to cover it up.
On June 3 Moses was arrested and later charged with forcible confinement, assault and attempt to evade police among other charges.
At the time, the RCMP issued a statement, saying they had received a call about a woman being forcibly confirmed in a vehicle travelling from Carcross to Whitehorse.
In his claim, Moses said he was arguing with his girlfriend, heading to Carcross, and decided to “stop and talk.”
They turned on Annie Lake Road then went to the end of the Two Horse Creek trail according to Moses’ statement of claim.
Moses said after 30 minutes of talking, he fell asleep.
When he woke up, he found two vehicles parked next to his car, including one from the RCMP, four officers and a dog.
The driver’s door was opened and an officer pulled him out he said, in his hand-written statement of claim.
“They said quit resisting,” he wrote.
“There was no announcement of who they were, that I was being arrested or what I was being arrested for.”
He alleges Const. Daniel Rouleau then yelled “get him, get him”, and that he was bitten by the police dog for about 20 to 30 seconds, telling the officers he wasn’t resisting before finally being put in handcuffs and the dog being taken off.
He also alleges one of the other RCMP members present stomped on his face while he was on the ground.
The arrest resulted in 10 holes from the dog biting him, a fourth of an inch laceration and an “arm 50% longer than normal size with the swelling of the injuries”, he said.
In their June 9 press release Yukon RCMP confirmed Moses and the woman in his car were also taken to Whitehorse General Hospital.
They say RCMP agents attempted a roadside stop around midnight but that Moses fled, speeding off toward Two Horse Creek Road.
Yukon RCMP acknowledged Moses was injured by the dog, adding that Moses refused to show his hands and was then “forcibly removed from the vehicle.”
They say a record check indicated possible possession of firearms.
“There was a certain level of force which was used in relation to this incident however it is consistent with RCMP training and the Criminal Code of Canada,” the RCMP said at the time.
“They charged me with the offences to justify the force they used on me and the injuries caused,” Moses wrote in his claim.
Moses is seeking damages for the injuries, the excessive use of force, loss of employment, harm to his reputation, time spent in jail and the legal cost incurred by the arrest.
Yukon RCMP said they couldn’t comment because the case is before the court.
“In any situation involving litigation it’s important to avoid doing anything that would disrupt the due process, so to make sure the facts can be considered fairly and objectively we’re not in a position to make a public statement at this time,” Yukon RCMP spokesperson Julia Fox said.
The suit is back on July 28 before the Yukon Supreme Court for a case management conference-setting up dates for the proceeding hearings.
Contact Pierre Chauvin at
pierre.chauvin@yukon-news.com