Vancouver officer worried Myles Gray would keep resisting if he regained consciousness, inquest hears
Radio audio from police calling paramedics after Gray fell unconscious played at inquest
The first of several Vancouver police officers involved in the beating death of an unarmed man in Burnaby, B.C., took the stand at a coroner's inquest Tuesday, becoming the only member of the force to speak publicly about the case in more than seven years.
Const. Hardeep Sahota was the first officer to respond to a 911 call about Myles Gray, 33, on the afternoon he was killed in a wooded backyard on Joffre Avenue near Marine Drive in August 2015.
Two people had called for police after Gray wandered into the neighbourhood, swore at a woman and sprayed a garden hose at her as she watered plants outside her co-op building. Each told the inquest Tuesday they were fearful because Gray wasn't wearing a shirt or shoes and appeared "intoxicated."
Sahota, then a six-year member of the force, called for backup after Gray's "level of agitation" increased, and he grabbed the door of her police van.
"I was certain that he was becoming violent and that he was threatening toward me," she told the inquest.
The ensuing confrontation between Gray, Sahota and her backup left the man with injuries so extensive, forensic experts could not determine a cause of death — a fractured eye socket, broken bones, a crushed voice box, brain hemorrhaging and a ruptured testicle.
The coroner's inquest that began this week is seeking to determine the facts around his death, not place blame, and make recommendations to prevent similar deaths in the future.
The remaining officers involved in the case will take the stand in the coming days.
Inquest hears audio from police radios
Sahota told the inquest Gray ran into a forested backyard on Joffre Avenue after grabbing the door of her van. She said she followed him to keep an eye on his location.
After backup arrived, Sahota said officers asked Gray to kneel, and pepper-sprayed him after he refused.
Sahota said she hit Gray with her baton "as hard as [she] could" three times in the leg during the struggle but that it had "zero effect" toward subduing him. She said she did not hit Gray in his throat or groin to potentially cause some of his more severe injuries, or see any of her fellow officers do so.
"If we were to look back, there's many options as to how this could've played out and, unfortunately, it ended the way it ended," said the officer, who is still with the force.
"I'm very saddened by the result of the incident."
After the confrontation, Sahota went to hospital for an injury to her hand as another officer mistakenly struck her with his baton as she held the strap that hobbled Gray so he could not walk.
Sahota was among the officers who did not initially co-operate with B.C.'s independent police watchdog as it examined Gray's case. She agreed to a second interview after the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. filed a court petition to compel her co-operation as a witness to Gray's death — not as a suspect.
Sahota told the inquest she could not recall having any training in responding to calls around mental health in 2015 but might have had some in years since.
The B.C. Prosecution Service declined to approve criminal charges against the officers in 2020, saying they were the only eyewitnesses to the man's death and offered accounts described as incomplete and sometimes inconsistent.
Inquest hears audio from police radios
The jury on Tuesday heard audio recorded from police radios as unidentified officers called for an ambulance in the minutes after Gray was beaten.
An officer called for an advanced life support ambulance unit because Gray was unconscious and unresponsive, but expressed concern he might continue to resist if he regained consciousness.
"If this guy comes to, we're going to need a sedation," the officer said.
An officer also said two colleagues had been injured, one in the jaw and another who was bleeding from the forehead.
Medical records cited in a report from the B.C. Prosecution Service showed one constable had been punched in the face during the arrest and was left with a small cut under his chin. The second had a five-centimetre cut on his forehead from a low-hanging tree branch, the report said.
Woman's son, neighbour called 911 after garden incident
Muhammed Reza, then a student, told the inquest Tuesday he called police that afternoon because he was scared after Gray swore at his mother and sprayed her with a garden hose outside their home on Marine Drive.
He said he ran outside after hearing his mother's screams and found Gray, who he believed to having a "breakdown."
Reza's mother, Songul Reza, told the inquest she felt someone "yank" the hose in her hands and turned to see a muscular man who wasn't wearing a shirt.
She said he made sexual remarks about her, telling her she was "beautiful'' and "sexy."
A neighbour, Naliza Majidigoruh, also phoned 911 after hearing yelling and going outside to find Gray "bothering" her friend.
On the stand, Majidigoruh began to cry when asked if she agreed Gray needed help.
Melissa Gray told reporters at the start of the inquest the officers involved stole her brother's life and that they don't deserve to continue their jobs in policing. During her testimony, she described him as a kind, goofy and loyal person who had been stable since being diagnosed with bipolar disorder around 1999, when he was about 18.
WATCH | Melissa Gray speaks about the outcomes she'd like to see from the inquest:
The inquest also heard from Myles Gray's family doctor from his home community in Sechelt, B.C., who said he believed Gray's bipolar disorder was "well controlled" and not a concern.
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With files from Bethany Lindsay and The Canadian Press