A Red Deer RCMP officer has been charged with assault causing bodily harm in connection with a 2020 cellblock incident.
Police said officers had gone to a cell on May 16, 2020, to take a prisoner for fingerprinting who had been arrested the previous evening.
The suspect had been arrested after police responded to a 911 hang-up call about 8:30 p.m on May 15. When officers got to the residence where the call came from they found a man allegedly causing a disturbance.
The suspect was arrested on outstanding warrants and for allegedly breaching release conditions related to previous criminal matters. He was taken to the Red Deer RCMP detachment and put in a cell.
The next day, a number of officers had gone to the cell to take him for fingerprinting “as the male had been uncooperative during previous interactions with officers and was believed to pose an officer safety risk.
“A physical altercation occurred between one of the officers and the male that resulted in an injury to the male. The male was assessed by Emergency Medical Services at the Red Deer detachment and then taken to hospital for treatment,” Police said in a press release.
The same day, the Director of Law Enforcement was notified and deemed the matter to be “out of scope” of the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) and advised it would remain with the Alberta RCMP. ASIRT investigates events where serious injury or death may have been caused by police and serious or sensitive allegations of police misconduct.
RCMP conducted their own internal review of the incident and an investigation took place as required.
As a result of that probe, Const. Vincent Beaudoin-Turcotte was charged with assault causing bodily harm. He is scheduled to appear in Red Deer provincial court on April 5.
Beaudoin-Turcotte, who has been an RCMP officer for four years, has been placed on administrative duties as a result of the charge.
“Once the criminal matter has been resolved, his duty status will be reviewed,” said police.
“The Alberta RCMP believes in processes that seek the facts, and it’s important that processes taken to assess the actions of all those involved, including the police, are fair, transparent, and defendable.”
“This is why, when we become aware of a situation that requires review, we immediately initiate internal processes to look at the totality of the incident, including the actions of the RCMP, the use of force during the incident, and the duty status of the member.”
Beaudoin-Turcotte is the second Red Deer Mountie charged with assault this year.
Cpl. Brandon William-Smith is facing assault charges in connection with three off-duty incidents in 2021. He has been assigned to administrative duties.
His case returns to court on April 7.