Two Toronto police officers have admitted to misconduct related to their role in the arrest of a young Black university student who was stopped, Tasered and kneed in the neck in what turned out to be a case of “mistaken identity.”
Const. Seth Rietkoetter pleaded guilty Monday at a Toronto police disciplinary tribunal to using unnecessary force and making an unlawful arrest when he and two other officers arrested Hasani O’Gilvie in August 2021.
Sgt. Rachel Saliba pleaded guilty to the same charge at a separate hearing on Tuesday, while a third officer involved in the botched arrest, Const. Jilliane Baquiran, was disciplined at the unit level.
The officers were looking for a suspect who was considered dangerous and had a “somewhat similar” description to O’Gilvie’s appearance when Saliba stopped O’Gilvie while he was walking in a plaza in north Toronto, according to agreed statements of facts in both cases.
O’Gilvie denied he was the suspect when asked and verbally identified himself, but Sgt. Saliba still threw him to the ground after he resisted an attempt to handcuff him, according to the statements. Sgt. Rietkoetter, who arrived after the initial interaction, shot O’Gilvie with a stun gun five times and then “placed his left knee across the complainant’s head and neck” and kept it there while he was handcuffed, the statement in his proceeding said.
“Const. Rietkoetter’s actions in restraining the complainant by placing his knee across the complainant’s neck was not consistent with his training and was unnecessary,” the statement said.
“Const. Rietkoetter failed in his duty to continuously assess the situation so that the level of force remained reasonable, proportionate, and necessary as the circumstances changed throughout the incident.”
The officers told O’Gilvie he was under arrest for theft and failing to comply, and placed him in the back of a police car, but eventually let him go after discovering multiple identification cards that made it clear they had arrested the wrong person.
The prosecution and defence jointly recommended Rietkoetter and Saliba be demoted temporarily. Their sentences will be delivered at a later date.
‘Treat them with dignity,’ mother says to officers
Lawyer David Shellnut, who is representing the O’Gilvie family, disagreed with portions of the statement of facts read at Tuesday’s hearing. Citing footage from body worn cameras footage, Shellnut said his client repeatedly identified himself and asked what the problem was but the officers showed no meaningful attempt at dialogue.
“Within moments, he’s being jumped on by three officers. He’s not resisting. He’s being pushed and pulled in all directions. His hands are up. He’s clearly confused. He says, ‘What did I do?'” Shellnut told the hearing.
“Mr. Ogilvie was overpowered.”
Speaking to reporters before Tuesday’s hearing, Hasani’s mother, Christine Stought-O’Gilvie, said the trauma of the arrest has negatively impacted her son’s mental health. She said her son, who is an introvert, has “receded more into himself” and has taken leave from studying at the University of Toronto for the past two years.
“What happened to him is difficult, was difficult, still is difficult… but we’re healing,” Stought-O’Gilvie said.
Stought-O’Gilvie, who is a teacher with the Toronto District School Board, also made a direct appeal to police officers who encounter young, Black men.
“Please treat them with dignity,” she said. “Please remember that you may be a father or you may have a brother out there and you’d like them to be treated just the same way that the mothers of Black men would like them to be treated.”
Shellnut said a civil lawsuit the O’Gilvie family launched against the three officers and the Toronto Police Services Board, which sought damages of just under $3 million, was resolved at the end of last year “to the satisfaction of all parties.”