Warning: Some details in this story are distressing
An Ontario court found a Belleville, Ont., police officer guilty of assault on Wednesday in the November 2019 takedown of a Mohawk man at a Taco Bell.
Both officers charged in the incident were acquitted of assault causing bodily harm.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Patrick Hurley found Belleville police officer Jeffrey Smith guilty of assault because he did not have grounds to arrest Mario Baptiste Jr., 38, when he confronted him at the restaurant with allegations of shoplifting.
Hurley acquitted Belleville police officer Paul Fyke, stating that the officer legally intervened in the takedown.
Baptiste Jr., who testified during the trial, said he didn’t feel he received justice and that the whole process was a “waste of time.”
“This is typical,” he said. “That’s what happens to Mohawk people, it’s just what it is.”
Officers Fyke, Smith and Kyle Dodds were each charged in May 2021 with assault causing bodily harm in relation to the arrest of Baptiste Jr., a gas station owner from Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory.
Crown prosecutor Ian Bulmer withdrew the charge against Dodds shortly before the trial in Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice began in October.
It took the Special Investigations Unit — the agency tasked with investigating injury or death cases involving police action — 13 months to open an investigation into the incident.
Baptiste Jr. lost consciousness after he was tackled to the ground by Fyke and Smith at a Taco Bell on the evening of Nov. 15, 2019, according to court testimony. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital and found with a cracked rib and a broken pinky finger.
Baptiste Jr.’s lawyer hopes for appeal
Justice Hurley, who delivered an oral ruling, said Smith did not have any grounds to arrest Baptiste Jr. as a party to the theft of a bottle of Powerade from a hardware store. The stolen energy drink underpinned an investigation launched by Fyke that evening, which led Fyke to follow Baptiste Jr. to the Taco Bell, where he called for backup.
While Fyke was not present when Smith grabbed Baptiste Jr. to arrest him inside the restaurant, he entered moments later to take part in the takedown.
Hurley ruled that Fyke acted legally because he was intervening on a potential crime of resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer. However, Hurley also ruled the Baptiste Jr. was within his rights to resist the arrest because it was unlawful.
Neither Fyke nor Smith’s lawyers were available for comment after the hearing.
Asha James, Baptiste Jr.’s civil lawyer, said she hoped the Crown would appeal the verdict.
“It’s a bit confusing how the judge got to his conclusion,” said James. “Mario had the right to resist the arrest but Fyke also had the grounds to … arrest him for resist arrest. So the reasoning is not quite clear to me.”
Belleville, Ont., police officers arrested Mario Baptiste Jr., a businessman from Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, under suspicion of theft from a hardware store, pushing him to the ground even after Baptiste showed officers his receipt.
Crown prosecutor Ian Bulmer wouldn’t comment on the verdict. His office will have to review the verdict before deciding whether to appeal.
The sentencing for Smith is scheduled for Jan. 12.
The events at the restaurant were captured by three security cameras and the roughly 40 minutes of video formed the core of the Crown’s case against Fyke and Smith.
The video showed Fyke and Smith attempting to administer first aid. They tried to dig into Baptiste Jr.’s mouth, which was clenched shut, and attempted the Heimlich manoeuvre several times, along with other procedures, while they waited for paramedics to arrive.
The trial provided no conclusive evidence as to why Baptiste Jr. lost consciousness. The defence floated theories that he suffered a seizure — though he had no history — and the Crown suggested he was “choked out.”
Confrontation started with stolen Powerade
Fyke’s actions that night triggered a chain of events that led to the violent takedown of Baptiste Jr. He crossed paths in the hardware store with Baptiste Jr., who was there to check in on a lumber order and purchase $33 worth of paper towels and garbage bags, according to court testimony.
Baptiste Jr. went to the store with his friend and his friend’s teenage son, who was allegedly seen by hardware store staff taking a Powerade bottle from a cooler and drinking it without paying for it, court heard.
After Mario Baptiste Jr. turned blue and stopped breathing, police officers attempted first aid by performing CPR and the Heimlich manoeuvre on him while waiting for paramedics.
Store staff allegedly told Fyke they had seen the teenager take the drink and that they suspected the group may be trying to execute a “distraction theft.”
Fyke followed the trio around the store but didn’t see them steal anything despite interpreting their actions — whispering, crouching, communicating through facial gestures — as suspicious. He then followed them to the Taco Bell after witnessing the group leave the parking lot in a truck a little too quickly, according to court testimony.
Three cruisers arrived at the Taco Bell after Fyke called dispatch.
Smith led officers into the restaurant to confront the group over the allegation that the teenager stole a bottled drink and the suspicion they stole other items. The teenager and his father agreed to be handcuffed and taken to the parking lot to clear things up, according to court testimony.
Baptiste Jr. told Smith he knew nothing about a stolen drink and showed his receipt for the paper towels and paper bags, according to court testimony. He had also paid for everyone’s meal and still had cash in his pocket.
Smith insisted Baptiste Jr. was under arrest as a party to the theft of the bottled drink. He tried to pull Baptiste Jr. from his seat to arrest him. Fyke then ran in to help Smith in the takedown.
The hardware store never filed a complaint and no empty Powerade bottle was ever found.