LETHBRIDGE, Alta. — A police force in southern Alberta says one of its officers has been charged with assault stemming from an altercation with a prisoner.
In a news release Sunday, the Lethbridge Police Service says the male prisoner was not injured during the incident on Feb. 9 at its short-term holding facility, but a complaint was made under the Police Act to the province's director of law enforcement.
While it says the matter was deemed in-scope, Alberta's police watchdog agency was not assigned and Lethbridge's Professional Standards Unit was directed to conduct the investigation.
It says the completed investigation was forwarded to prosecutors for review and a charge of assault was recommended.
David Easter is charged with one count of assault and is scheduled to appear in Lethbridge Provincial Court in November.
Easter has been relieved from duty without pay pending the outcome of the matter in court.
"In this case I believe exceptional circumstances exist that warrant the relief of duty without pay for the good of the Police Service and to uphold the public expectation that police officers be held to the highest standards," Chief Scott Woods said in the release.
The release notes that the chief's decision to relieve the officer from duty without pay must be reviewed by the city's police commission within 30 days.
Earlier this summer two Lethbridge police officers were temporarily demoted after they conducted unauthorized surveillance on then-environment minister Shannon Phillips in April 2017.
Alberta Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer has directed the province's police watchdog to determine if there are grounds for a criminal probe in that case.
Police in Lethbridge are also being investigated by an outside force after a restaurant worker in a "Star Wars" stormtrooper costume who was carrying a plastic gun was forced to the ground and ended up with a bloody nose on May 4.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 23, 2020.
The Canadian Press
