The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) said on Wednesday an Edmonton Police Service (EPS) officer has been charged with assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm..On Nov. 26, 2019, ASIRT was directed to investigate a use of force by Const. Alexander Doduk..ASIRT’s investigation focused on whether the EPS officer employed excessive force, including the alleged use of a baton while arresting a man on that date..Evidence gathered during ASIRT’s investigation provided reasonable grounds to believe that an offence had been committed. As required by the Police Act, the investigation was forwarded to the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service (ACPS) to determine whether the evidence met the standard for prosecution..Following a review of the investigation and having been advised the evidence met the ACPS’s standard for prosecution, ASIRT executive director Michael Ewenson determined the officer should be charged..On Wednesday, Doduk was charged with assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm. He is scheduled for his first appearance on Oct. 11 at the Alberta Court of Justice in Edmonton..As this matter is now before the courts, no further information will be released..But this isn't Doduk's first time being questioned about his on-duty activities or being in the news..On June 5, 2021, Steven Nguyen was holding a cell phone and not a firearm when police shot him multiple times..Doduk was one of the officers who responded to the call and fired six shots at the man..Police claim Nguyen reached into his pocket containing an object with a handle and “walked back, into the shadows” despite being told to show his hands..The EPS said Doduk drew his pistol as a “precautionary measure” and aimed it at the ground..“Upon Const. Doduk drawing his pistol, Steven became highly agitated, and stepped further back into the shadows, while yelling ‘No, no, no, get back, I’ll kill you! Get away! Get away!’ or words to that effect,” EPS Chief Dale McFee said in a 2021 statement..“Doduk believed the object drawn by Steven to be a firearm, and yelled ‘Gun! Drop it!' Steven then rapidly shifted and rotated his body to the left and kept pointing the object at the officers.”.Doduk would fire six shots, “some or all” of which hit Nguyen, killing him..Officers later determined the object Nguyen held was a phone..READ MORE: ASIRT admits slow investigation resulted in no charges against two officers in separate cases.In a separate incident, a Lloydminster RCMP officer appears to be off the hook as well after a lengthy ASIRT investigation..In 2018, the Lloydminster RCMP detachment received a complaint of two men fighting outside of a local business. One of the men was described as Caucasian and the other indigenous..ASIRT said in its report when one of the men was approached by officers he appeared to be intoxicated and when they spoke with him he became verbally abusive and took a confrontational stance..ASIRT said when the officers first approached him at the scene of his arrest, he called them “pigs.".He stated that when the officers grabbed him, he slipped. With this action they may have thought he was resisting, as one of the officers gave him two shots (punches) in the face; which was in the same area where the other man had hit him..The man was then placed in the back seat of the police car. During the interview of the man, he did not report any injuries as a result of this incident. There were no visible injuries either. The man did advise that he had a severe migraine headache after being released from police custody, and that it was still a bit painful..The man did not seek any medical care after this incident. The prisoner photo of the man taken approximately two hours after the incident does not show any visible injuries to his face..The man was brought to a cell so the RCMP could complete a search of the man in a more secure area..As the Mountie started to move the man away from the counter and towards where the cell was, the man pulled away..The Mountie then lost control of the man but then grabbed him around his head and shoulders..A witness officer said he tried to take him to the ground but was unsuccessful in doing so..He was telling the man to stop resisting, saying “Quit it.” The witness officer stated that the man said something to the effect of “Let’s f**king go.”.A Mountie then punched the man four to five times in the face. The punches did not seem to have any effect on the man the witness said..The ASIRT report states the Mountie then elbowed the man two or three times to stop the resistance. The report said the elbows did cause the man to stop resisting so that they could get him into the cell..He was subsequently searched by the two officers without any further issues. The witness officer could not recall if he told the Mountie something to the effect of, “Okay [first name], [first name] Okay” when he was punching the man. He also did not recall telling the Mounties they would need to charge the man with assaulting a police officer..The witness officer said he believed that the grounds for an assault of a police officer charge did not exist, but that grounds for resisting a police officer charge did; and was appropriate given the man's actions..After giving his statement, the witness officer was shown the video of the incident, and he provided a verbal description of what was on the video..He noted that the man used more punches and elbows than he first thought. Investigators also spoke with two other witness officers..However, neither of these officers observed the incident first-hand..As a result, being of the opinion that an offence may have been committed, on Feb. 7, the Executive Director of ASIRT forwarded the file to the ACPS for an opinion on whether a charge should be pursued..The Mountie who punched the drunk man was not charged because of the lengthy delay in the investigation.."ASIRT acknowledges that the delay in getting this matter to ACPS for an opinion was too lengthy, and this is not the standard by which we are guided, nor hold ourselves to," ASIRT said.."As no charge(s) will be pursued against the officer the file is being concluded. Steps have recently been taken to ensure, as best as possible, that when an investigation provides the grounds for the executive director to form the opinion that an offence had been committed, it is forwarded to ACPS as quickly as possible."
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) said on Wednesday an Edmonton Police Service (EPS) officer has been charged with assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm..On Nov. 26, 2019, ASIRT was directed to investigate a use of force by Const. Alexander Doduk..ASIRT’s investigation focused on whether the EPS officer employed excessive force, including the alleged use of a baton while arresting a man on that date..Evidence gathered during ASIRT’s investigation provided reasonable grounds to believe that an offence had been committed. As required by the Police Act, the investigation was forwarded to the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service (ACPS) to determine whether the evidence met the standard for prosecution..Following a review of the investigation and having been advised the evidence met the ACPS’s standard for prosecution, ASIRT executive director Michael Ewenson determined the officer should be charged..On Wednesday, Doduk was charged with assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm. He is scheduled for his first appearance on Oct. 11 at the Alberta Court of Justice in Edmonton..As this matter is now before the courts, no further information will be released..But this isn't Doduk's first time being questioned about his on-duty activities or being in the news..On June 5, 2021, Steven Nguyen was holding a cell phone and not a firearm when police shot him multiple times..Doduk was one of the officers who responded to the call and fired six shots at the man..Police claim Nguyen reached into his pocket containing an object with a handle and “walked back, into the shadows” despite being told to show his hands..The EPS said Doduk drew his pistol as a “precautionary measure” and aimed it at the ground..“Upon Const. Doduk drawing his pistol, Steven became highly agitated, and stepped further back into the shadows, while yelling ‘No, no, no, get back, I’ll kill you! Get away! Get away!’ or words to that effect,” EPS Chief Dale McFee said in a 2021 statement..“Doduk believed the object drawn by Steven to be a firearm, and yelled ‘Gun! Drop it!' Steven then rapidly shifted and rotated his body to the left and kept pointing the object at the officers.”.Doduk would fire six shots, “some or all” of which hit Nguyen, killing him..Officers later determined the object Nguyen held was a phone..READ MORE: ASIRT admits slow investigation resulted in no charges against two officers in separate cases.In a separate incident, a Lloydminster RCMP officer appears to be off the hook as well after a lengthy ASIRT investigation..In 2018, the Lloydminster RCMP detachment received a complaint of two men fighting outside of a local business. One of the men was described as Caucasian and the other indigenous..ASIRT said in its report when one of the men was approached by officers he appeared to be intoxicated and when they spoke with him he became verbally abusive and took a confrontational stance..ASIRT said when the officers first approached him at the scene of his arrest, he called them “pigs.".He stated that when the officers grabbed him, he slipped. With this action they may have thought he was resisting, as one of the officers gave him two shots (punches) in the face; which was in the same area where the other man had hit him..The man was then placed in the back seat of the police car. During the interview of the man, he did not report any injuries as a result of this incident. There were no visible injuries either. The man did advise that he had a severe migraine headache after being released from police custody, and that it was still a bit painful..The man did not seek any medical care after this incident. The prisoner photo of the man taken approximately two hours after the incident does not show any visible injuries to his face..The man was brought to a cell so the RCMP could complete a search of the man in a more secure area..As the Mountie started to move the man away from the counter and towards where the cell was, the man pulled away..The Mountie then lost control of the man but then grabbed him around his head and shoulders..A witness officer said he tried to take him to the ground but was unsuccessful in doing so..He was telling the man to stop resisting, saying “Quit it.” The witness officer stated that the man said something to the effect of “Let’s f**king go.”.A Mountie then punched the man four to five times in the face. The punches did not seem to have any effect on the man the witness said..The ASIRT report states the Mountie then elbowed the man two or three times to stop the resistance. The report said the elbows did cause the man to stop resisting so that they could get him into the cell..He was subsequently searched by the two officers without any further issues. The witness officer could not recall if he told the Mountie something to the effect of, “Okay [first name], [first name] Okay” when he was punching the man. He also did not recall telling the Mounties they would need to charge the man with assaulting a police officer..The witness officer said he believed that the grounds for an assault of a police officer charge did not exist, but that grounds for resisting a police officer charge did; and was appropriate given the man's actions..After giving his statement, the witness officer was shown the video of the incident, and he provided a verbal description of what was on the video..He noted that the man used more punches and elbows than he first thought. Investigators also spoke with two other witness officers..However, neither of these officers observed the incident first-hand..As a result, being of the opinion that an offence may have been committed, on Feb. 7, the Executive Director of ASIRT forwarded the file to the ACPS for an opinion on whether a charge should be pursued..The Mountie who punched the drunk man was not charged because of the lengthy delay in the investigation.."ASIRT acknowledges that the delay in getting this matter to ACPS for an opinion was too lengthy, and this is not the standard by which we are guided, nor hold ourselves to," ASIRT said.."As no charge(s) will be pursued against the officer the file is being concluded. Steps have recently been taken to ensure, as best as possible, that when an investigation provides the grounds for the executive director to form the opinion that an offence had been committed, it is forwarded to ACPS as quickly as possible."
