.

Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - An elderly Dettah man is claiming he was left battered and bruised by police after he was arrested on a downtown street for being intoxicated.

Alfred Baillargeon, 74, said he had been out drinking the night of Thursday, Jan. 22 with a friend who was visiting from Lutsel K'e.

Alfred Baillargeon, 74, claims he suffered extensive injuries to his arm as a result of police brutality when he was picked up by RCMP for being intoxicated last Thursday. - Cara Loverock/ NNSL Photo

He said he remembered leaving a downtown restaurant and the next thing he knew he was in a police vehicle. Baillargeon's arm is badly bruised from his wrist to his elbow and visibly swollen.

"You do everything with your hand," said his daughter Beatrice Sangris, translating for her father who mainly speaks Dogrib.

"He can't even cut meat for himself ... What's he going to do now?"

She added that her father can't shovel snow or drive his car either. He was planning to spent time at his cabin at Tibbitt Lake where he usually enjoys fishing and trapping but is now relying on his family to take care of him.

Baillargeon said he can't remember much other than leaving the restaurant. "Next thing he knew he was in a cop vehicle," said Sangris.

She said a witness to the incident notified her sister Christine of what had happened, otherwise his family would not have known where he was that night.

"He woke up in the drunk tank in a t-shirt, shorts and socks ... When he got up in the morning (the police) told him to go," said Sangris.

Baillargeon said he was in so much pain he couldn't tie his shoes. He spent the next few days in bed until calling Sangris on Monday and asked her to take him to the hospital.

"I drove him to the hospital and that was the first time I saw (the injury)," said Sangris.

She said she has since spoken with the Yellowknife RCMP detachment and contacted the Commission for Complaints Against the RCMP.

She said there will be an investigation by the police into the incident and has the option of having a second investigation launched by the complaints commission if she and her father are unhappy with the police-led investigation.

"The elders, if they need help who do they go to now?" said Sangris. She said elders deserve respect and it is upsetting to see a 74-year-old man injured so badly.

RCMP Sgt. Larry O'Brien addressed the incident in a press conference held Thursday.

He said the RCMP received notice of a public complaint filed through the Commission for Complaints Against the RCMP that same day.

An investigator will be appointed by the RCMP to look into the matter, said O'Brien. He did not name Baillargeon or his family as the complainant but did say the incident involved a man who was taken into custody on Thursday, Jan. 22 after a complaint had been called into police.

"The details of this incident cannot be disclosed at this time," said O'Brien. He said police have not yet viewed the tape from inside the detachment of the night in question but are planning to do so.

"I can't say how long the process (of the investigation) may take," said O'Brien.

Ndilo Chief Fred Sangris said the Yellowknives Dene are very upset about the mistreatment of an elder, but also cautioned that an investigation is ongoing and it is not yet clear what exactly transpired.

"The conduct of the police is in question," the chief said. He said Ndilo and Dettah are trying to build a good relationship with the RCMP but disrespect towards aboriginal people by the police is a fact that happens across Canada.

"The Yellowknives Dene are going to take this very seriously," the chief said, adding that they are also talking to the Department of Justice about the incident and will await the outcome of an investigation.