Civil suit filed against police officer charged with assaulting Winnipeg man

A Winnipeg police officer charged with assault is now also facing a civil lawsuit from the man who says he was unlawfully arrested and then beaten by the officer.

Patrol Sgt. Sean Cassidy, a 21-year veteran of the force, was charged with assault causing bodily harm in January following an investigation by the Independent Investigation Unit, Manitoba's police watchdog.

He's accused of punching and kneeing Kenneth James Cote, then 32, causing a number of injuries during Cote's arrest on March 27, 2017. Cassidy was off-duty at the time, but was assisting other officers.

Those allegations haven't been proven in court.

Cote is now suing Cassidy and the City of Winnipeg, asking for damages including the cost of past and future medical care.

In a statement of claim filed with the Court of Queen's Bench Tuesday, Cote, who operates a landscaping and groundskeeping business, said he suffered a fractured nose and a concussion in the incident.

"The wrongful conduct of the defendants was malicious, unconstitutional, and outrageous," the statement of claim says.

It doesn't specify an amount for damages, but argues it should be "of sufficient magnitude to vindicate the constitutional rights of the Plaintiff and to deter similar conduct."

Followed back to Winnipeg, suit claims

In the court documents, Cote says Cassidy, driving an unmarked minivan, began following him and an employee while they delivered flyers in La Salle, Man. — just south of Winnipeg — around 12:30 a.m. on March 27, 2017.

Cote and the employee were driving in a company vehicle with the business name on the side, the suit says.

Cote says he made two unsuccessful attempts to approach the minivan and talk to the driver, before he and his employee left La Salle for Winnipeg, with the minivan still following them.

The statement of claim alleges the driver of the minivan began driving dangerously, swerving between highway lanes and cutting off Cote's vehicle.

Cote says he pulled over when he noticed a Winnipeg police cruiser in a parking lot on St. Mary's Road, and got out of his vehicle to ask the officers for help.

According to the statement of claim, Cassidy pulled over too, got out of the minivan and told Cote to get back in his vehicle. Cote says the police cruiser then turned on its lights and he immediately put his hands in the air.

Cote says he was handcuffed with his hands behind his back and pinned face-down on the ground by the officers.

That's when, the statement of claim says, Cassidy started punching him in the face and striking him with his knee. Cote says Cassidy dropped his knee into his left temple, pushing his head into the pavement.

He says the on-duty officers eventually stepped in to pulled Cassidy away. He says Cassidy drove off while the other officers put Cote in the back of their cruiser and searched his work vehicle.

None of the allegations in the statement of claim have been proven in court.

'A disregard for their duties'

Cote says he was never told that he was under arrest, given a reason for his detention or advised of his right to contact counsel.

He says he was told by one of the officers that if he didn't say anything about what had happened he'd be free to go — and he would not be charged for a joint they'd found in his pack of cigarettes.

Cote says he now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and his business has "significantly deteriorated" because of a brain injury suffered during the alleged assault.

The statement of claim calls Cote's detention and the search of his vehicle "a flagrant breach" of his rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and says the Winnipeg Police Service acted negligently in allowing Cassidy to assault Cote.

"The Winnipeg Police Service officers present at the time showed a disregard for their duties by not reporting defendant Cassidy's violent assault on the plaintiff, and instead acted to cover up the assault and protect the defendant Cassidy from consequences," the statement of claim alleges.

A City of Winnipeg spokesperson said the city wouldn't comment on a matter before the courts, and efforts to reach Cassidy for comment were unsuccessful.

Cassidy's criminal trial is scheduled to start in April.

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