A video of the incident shows police officers subduing Santokh Bola on the morning of Nov. 1 as he pleads with them to let him go.
TORONTO – An Indo-Canadian man from Woodbridge, Ontario is suing Toronto police for $5 million after being kneed and punched repeatedly during what they now acknowledge was a mistaken arrest.
A video of the incident shows police officers subduing Santokh Bola, 21, on the morning of Nov. 1 as he pleads with them to let him go, reported Toronto Star.
The lawsuit claims Bola was ordered at gunpoint to “get down or be shot” by officers with drawn guns.
Toronto police spokesperson Mark Pugash acknowledged that Bola was wrongly arrested but said the context of the arrest is important.
Just three minutes before his arrest, police received a 911 call about a man with a knife and that description matched that of Bola, Pugash said in an interview.
“I think that context is important,” Pugash said. “There’s always a context in which these things take place.”
A video shows Toronto police officers violently subduing Santokh Bola on Nov. 1 as he pleads with them to let him go.
Bola’s lawyer, Michael Smitiuch, told a news conference Wednesday that the video shows police delivering 11 punches to Bola in quick succession, and a total of 20 blows to his head.
“Officer, please, officer,” Santokh can be heard saying in the video. “Let me go, please let me.”
Smitiuch said his client had done nothing wrong in the moments leading up to his arrest and was just arriving to help his grandfather at the family store.
During the arrest, Smitiuch said, Bola’s behavior was completely appropriate.
“This is not a fight against police, it’s about holding the officers involved accountable,” Smitiuch said.
“The family deserves answers.”
In the video, Bola can be heard begging to speak to his grandfather and twice says, “Let me talk to my parents.”
He also pleads, “Sir, I beg you.”
Bola was taken to Etobicoke General Hospital by his grandfather, where he was treated for head and facial injuries.
Bola sat alongside his lawyers and sister at the news conference but did not field questions.
“They (police) knew or ought to have known that Santokh was scared or frightened and despite this, they proceeded to restrain, detain, assault and arrest him in a violent and unlawful manner,” the lawsuit states.
“They failed to recognize that Santokh had an intellectual disability and therefore failed to handle the situation in an appropriate manner,” the lawsuit continues.
None of the allegations made in the statement of claim have been proven.
His sister Sonia said her brother has a pre-existing mental disability and hand tremors, which have gotten worse since the attack.
“We see fear in his eyes,” Sonia said. “His shakes have gotten worse.”
She said she was totally unsatisfied when the family took its complaint to 23 Division.
The video of the incident speaks for itself, his other lawyer, Kenneth Byers, said.
“Thank goodness in this case a bystander was there with his cell phone,” Byers said. “We can actually see it.”
Byers said Santokh wasn’t attempting to flee and didn’t have a weapon when he was arrested.
Byers said the force used was “obviously excessive” and said the officers involved should have stopped for a second to speak with Bola, who wasn’t armed and wasn’t trying to flee, reported CBC News.
“No one stopped at any point in time to talk to him to say, ‘This is why we are here,’” Byers said. “Effective police relies upon respect and trust.
“Incidents like this erode that public faith.”
Sonia Bola said the family met with officials at 23 Division, who said they believed proper protocols were followed and offered no apology for what took place.
Bola himself, meanwhile, has been “traumatized” by the event and still flinches anytime he sees a police officer or cruiser, his sister said.
The lawsuit names four police officers only as John and Jane Doe, as well as Chief Mark Saunders and the Toronto Police Services Board.
It claims the violent takedown came while police were investigating an attempted burglary.
Bola’s lawyers said he was released moments after being taken into a police cruiser. Later, his family took him to hospital where he was treated for head injuries. His lawyer says he’s also suffering from emotional trauma.
Bola’s family has lodged a formal complaint with the Toronto Police Service. They’ve also filed a statement of claim at the Superior Court of Justice against the officers involved in the arrest as well as Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders and the Toronto Police Services Board.
“These people need to be held accountable,” said Sonia Bola, who spoke to reporters on her brother’s behalf as he has developmental disabilities.
