Two West Vancouver brothers have been charged with assaulting a police officer causing bodily harm and wilfully obstructing a police officer after a plainclothes officer was punched in the face and head during a traffic stop in downtown Vancouver Tuesday night.
The incident began shortly before 10 p.m. on Oct. 9 when two plainclothes officers pulled over a Dodge Durango with three occupants driving through a section of Granville Street where cars are restricted.
When the police officer stopped the vehicle between Granville and Seymour streets, the three men inside the vehicle were “confrontational and verbally abusive” said Sgt. Jason Robillard of the Vancouver Police Department at a press conference Wednesday.
The traffic stop quickly deteriorated when officers saw the men in the vehicle reaching under the seat, said Robillard. When the door to the vehicle was opened, one of the men pulled a police officer inside and “two men began to punch him repeatedly in the face and head area,” said Robillard.
From there, one of the suspects attempted to flee on foot, ran through a red light at the intersection of Robson and Seymour streets and was hit by a vehicle. Seemingly uninjured, the suspect continued to run and was later caught a few blocks down the road. A video of the incident was posted on YouTube and can be seen below.
Backup officers then converged on Granville Street and arrested all three men, who are in their early 20s and described as “well known to police and have a history with police.”
Robillard said the police officer who was beaten is recovering at home with what he described as “substantial injuries.”
In response to questions posed by reporters, Robillard said although the police officers were in plainclothes, they identified themselves as officers and “there’s no doubt in my mind the three occupants of the vehicle knew they were police officers.”
“This stop turned very violent very quickly,” he added.
West Vancouver brothers, Brendan John Robinson, 21, and Troy Michael Robinson, 22, are each charged with assaulting a police officer causing bodily harm and wilfully obstructing a police officer.
A third man, Brian Benjamin Allen, a 24-year-old Victoria resident, is charged with possession of stolen property under $5,000 for allegedly taking the injured officer’s cellphone.
The two West Vancouver brothers are being held in custody pending a bail hearing Friday.
