Judge praises Mountie who testified against superior convicted in B.C. assault case
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NEW WESTMINSTER – A staff sergeant with Langley RCMP has been convicted of assaulting a suspect as he was being booked in 2020, after a B.C. judge found the officer used force out of anger or frustration, and not safety concerns as the officer claimed.
The B.C. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Staff Sgt. Damian Volk assaulted Dalibor Kuzmanovic at the Langley detachment after Kuzmanovic was arrested for an alleged theft from a Home Depot store in August 2020.
The ruling says Kuzmanovic was brought into the detachment by an arresting officer, before camera footage showed Volk stepping in to search the handcuffed man and interrupting the arresting officer’s search.
The ruling says Volk and Kuzmanovic exchanged words moments before the officer grabbed him and took him down to the ground.
The ruling says Const. Michael Dee, one of the arresting officers, testified that Kuzmanovic was co-operative and compliant and presented a low risk, while Volk claimed the man was “irate.”
Justice John Gibb-Carsley rejected Volk’s claim given the camera footage and Dee’s testimony, praising Dee for the courage of his testimony.
Gibb-Carsley’s ruling commends Dee for coming forward about something “he perceived to be unfair, unjust and improper,” and making the difficult decision to testify against a superior officer.
“I expect that taking the actions he did, required courage and conviction and a desire to improve policing,” the ruling says. “Without individuals such as Const. Dee, individual incidents can grow to become systemic issues and lead to society normalizing unacceptable behaviour.”
The ruling says that protecting society “requires that police are held to account when they exceed their powers.”
Danielle Ching McNamee, one of Volk’s lawyers, declined to comment on the ruling.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 29, 2025.