When dealing with a person who was not cooperating and clinging to him, police officer Jacob Picard in the Saint-Joseph restaurant-bar district was “scared” and felt the “urge to act.” That’s why he pushed it forward with “moderate force,” he claims.
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Officer Picard, 28, was called to the stand by his attorney and gave his version of the facts for the first time Thursday, on the fourth day of his trial on assault charges related to the violent arrest of a client on October 16, 2021.
He went to the facility that evening to ensure compliance with health regulations after he first noticed violations on this issue the day before.
On site, he was the only member of the Quebec police’s GRIPP squad, which was specifically responsible for monitoring the understaffed bars. Less experienced patrol officers accompanied him.
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“Hysterical” customer
He said his attention was focused on the plaintiff in the case, Mathieu Gamache, who he said was “sweating” and “hysterical.”
According to him, the person did not offer cooperation, refused to put on his mask twice and continued dancing.
The police officer claims he was pushed by Mathieu Gamache when he tried to accompany him to the bathroom corridor where he wanted to identify him.
The citizen, he claims, first grabbed a fence and then his shirt. The police officer then feels “fear and then the urge to act”.
“The gentleman is clinging to my shirt, the gentleman is bigger than me, so I see a danger, even considering the behavior he committed before when he attacked me,” he testified.
He explains that he fears that the suspect could grab the knife hidden in his police equipment or that he could bring it to the ground, as had happened two months earlier during an operation on a person in which he was injured.
“Danger, danger”
“At that moment I just said to myself: This is danger, danger. I need to get out. I decide to urge him to free me. My goal was for him to come back and for me to be able to work as a team with my colleagues.”
According to him, the goal was to get the individual to take a few steps back to create a safe distance. But the result is completely different: Mathieu Gamache hits the wall before collapsing.
“I was surprised, I didn’t understand it,” he says, judging that he used “moderate force” and that he never let frustration or anger guide him.
He explains that at this point he conducted an “initial assessment” of Gamache’s condition and that there were no obvious injuries or bleeding.
But once he was up and handcuffed, the man allegedly became agitated and hit his head with a bar counter, he continued. Then he notices “slight bleeding.”
Living memories
Under cross-examination, Jacob Picard admitted that he “should have” written a use-of-force report after this incident.
He said he still has very vivid memories of that evening.
“I have thought about this event continuously for two years. I am accused of it having an impact on my personal life, on my professional life,” he said.
Since the criminal complaint against him, the peace officer has been entrusted with administrative tasks and is particularly tasked with supporting victims of domestic violence, we learned.
It turns out his story is very different to that of Mathieu Gamache, who claimed at the start of the trial that he only turned around to take his mask out of his coat.
Given the partygoer’s lack of criminal history and the remorse he would have expressed in the patrol car, Officer Picard ended up issuing a simple disorderly conduct ticket “instead of charging a felon.” [de voies de fait sur un agent]”, he explained.
Keep in mind that the police officer is facing a second trial of around ten days for simple assault in connection with an incident in the Grande Allée sector, still in autumn 2021.
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