E-bike rider’s claims of unlawful arrest, theft, assault denied

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This article was published 16/07/2024 (445 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two Winnipeg police officers and the City of Winnipeg have denied wrongdoing related to a lawsuit launched by a man who accused them of unlawful arrest, theft and assault.

Sgt. Jeffrey Norman, fellow officer Jason Chymyshyn and the city have asked for the lawsuit, filed in March by East St. Paul contractor Leo Marcel Lafreniere, to be thrown out.

Norman, who has been a Winnipeg officer for more than two decades, has been sued at least 10 times, though the outcome of most of the litigation has remained behind closed doors, while at least one suit was found in his favour.

Lafreniere alleged he was stopped on Oct. 1, 2022, near Logan Avenue and Gunnell Street by Chymyshyn, while he was riding an electric bicycle. The officer asked for his licence and registration.

He claimed he had tried to explain the regulations about electric bicycles, while the officer spoke loudly over him, before Norman arrived. The officer requested his licence and registration, which Lafreniere said he tried to retrieve.

“The plaintiff resisted this request in a bellicose manner, insisting repeatedly and at high volume that he had no obligation to present a licence as he was not driving a vehicle that required him to be in possession of (a licence),” reads the July 4 statement of defence on behalf of all defendants.

“Chymyshyn’s request of the plaintiff, and the manner of said request, was correct and reasonable.”

The defendants allege that Lafreniere was riding a motorcycle that had an electric engine, which requires a licence, not an electrically assisted bicycle — two different vehicles under traffic legislation.

Lafreniere’s lawsuit said the pedals for the vehicle were tucked away in a compartment, not attached; electric bicycles must have pedals.

Lafreniere’s licence was suspended at the time, the defence filing said.

Lafreniere alleged he was roughly arrested by the two officers, who took him to the ground, while Norman kneed him in the groin and shocked him with a Taser numerous times.

The defendants claim both officers firmly gripped him and said he was being arrested for driving without a licence, but he resisted and yelled that they had no authority to do so.

The defendants allege Lafreniere pulled his hands away from the officers, who took him to the ground, where he’s accused of reaching for his waistband while continuing to resist arrest.

The defendants claim that’s when Norman used the Taser, calling the weapon’s use “proportionate and reasonable.”

“The determination to use the Taser, and the manner of its use was, in fact, a reasonable determination in the circumstances of the plaintiff’s escalation of the incident and violent resistance to arrest,” reads the defence filing.

Other officers arrived and helped get Lafreniere into a police cruiser.

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Lafreniere was charged with resisting arrest and four offences under the Highway Traffic Act, all of which were later stayed by the Crown, court records show.

He claimed Norman and Chymyshyn seized and did not return $500 from him, which the police deny in the defence filing.

Lafreniere claimed his arrest was unreasonable and that he had a right not to comply, while Norman’s conduct amounted to assault and caused immediate harm and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The defence filing disagrees, saying his arrest was lawful and appropriate.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Erik Pindera
Reporter

Erik Pindera is a reporter for the Free Press, mostly focusing on crime and justice. The born-and-bred Winnipegger attended Red River College Polytechnic, wrote for the community newspaper in Kenora, Ont. and reported on television and radio in Winnipeg before joining the Free Press in 2020.  Read more about Erik.

Every piece of reporting Erik produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.