Vancouver police are recommending criminal charges be laid against two police officers allegedly involved in attacking and robbing a National Post delivery driver last week.
A New Westminster officer will face charges of assault and possession of stolen property, while a West Vancouver officer is looking at a robbery charge, Chief Jim Chu told a news conference yesterday.
A third off-duty policeman from the Delta force who was arrested after the early morning assault last Wednesday will not be charged, Chief Chu said, citing evidence that the officer may have tried to intervene to stop the assault.
It was the chief's second statement in less than a week, the latest in a recent string of B. C. cops being accused of behaving badly.
"From the moment the Vancouver police were called to the scene, many of us realized that this would be a case that could polarize public opinion, shake their faith in the justice system and offer every police critic a new platform to speak from," Chief Chu said in a statement released yesterday.
"While I abhor the actions that are attributed to these members, I am very pleased with the [police department's] response."
All three officers spent a night in a jail after police responded to a 911 call outside the Hyatt Regency Hotel, where 47-year-old delivery man Firoz Khan claimed the officers attacked him unprovoked, robbed him, racially abused him and threatened to use a Taser. His assailants were alleged to have stolen his cellphone and $200.
Because the victim could not identify the officer who allegedly uttered racial remarks, police were not recommending the case be tried as a hate crime, Chief Chu said, noting the matter would be left to the courts to "take into consideration."
Chiefs from the New Westminster, West Vancouver and Delta departments will also be conducting their own investigations to determine the status of the three officers, he added.
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