The man nailed to the wall at the Saint-Joseph County bar in 2021 is putting his words into action, filing a civil lawsuit for more than $400,000 against the city and police officer Jacob Picard for assault leads to injuries.
In a motion filed late Wednesday afternoon at the Quebec courthouse, citizen Mathieu Gamache, through his lawyers Me François-David Bernier and Me Stéphanie Drolet, claims that he is “a victim of brutal police forces during an unlawful and abusive arrest and detention.” had become.
He denounces “abusive force” that was “unjustifiably used against his person and caused him significant and irreversible harm and repercussions,” says the document obtained by Le Journal.
This development follows a formal notice served on the defendants in 2022.
Mr. Gamache is seeking $286,225 in compensatory damages from the City of Quebec and its police department, as well as police officer Jacob Picard, for the alleged harm, namely pain, moral damage and financial loss.
“Harrowing violence”
He is also seeking $100,000 from the city and $30,000 from the police officer in punitive damages, believing it is necessary to “denounce and strongly sanction police abuses committed in our society.”
A video that has been making the rounds on the Internet shows Mathieu Gamache being forcefully pushed into a corridor of the restaurant on the night of October 16, 2021. Officer Picard would have approached him first because he was not wearing his mask, as required by health regulations.
This incident is the subject of a criminal trial that began on Monday and is expected to culminate this winter. Jacob Picard pleads not guilty.
“It is our understanding that this act of astounding violence, akin to an assault, was committed entirely gratuitously by the defendant Picard in the exercise of his duties while believing, in our humble opinion, that he was completely above all the laws.” , we can read.
In the same lawsuit, the plaintiff’s then-spouse is portrayed as a “mutual victim” and demands compensation of $10,000 because he was particularly “traumatized by the brutal behavior of the police towards the plaintiff.”
According to the motion, “defendant Picard acted nowhere near what a reasonable police officer would have done under the circumstances.”
The city should also be “sanctioned” for “leaving the latter in office,” it is said.
A city spokesman and Jacob Picard’s attorney in the criminal case, who were informed by Le Journal about the filing of the lawsuit, declined to comment.
Many consequences
According to the civil lawsuit, police had no good reason to arrest Gamache and handcuff him because he posed no danger to them or the public and was “cooperative throughout the operation.”
However, this cooperative attitude was called into question by the police’s testimony in the criminal trial.
It is alleged that the partygoer suffered numerous consequences, including physical pain and concussions, memory loss and difficulty concentrating, in addition to losing his job and affecting his family situation.
Mathieu Gamache was also “beaten” by the officers on Boulevard Saint-Joseph, the plaintiffs claim.
The appeal emphasizes that the criminal complaint of rioting or disorder served on him that evening was withdrawn several months later.
As part of his efforts for justice, Mathieu Gamache confided in particular to the lawyer Me Bernier in a video that can be seen on the YouTube channel of the La Firme law firm.
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