Charges stayed in viral video case
Senior taken to the ground by bylaw officers to pay $25 fine for not wearing seat belt
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Published Friday, December 5, 2014
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A man criminally charged after his confrontation with two municipal enforcement officers was captured on video and posted to Facebook back in September has had the charges against him stayed.
Gary Jaeb, 66, appeared in territorial court on Nov. 25. He had been charged with assaulting a peace officer and obstruction of justice for allegedly not showing his identification. Crown prosecutor Maren Zimmer told Yellowknifer that after all the evidence was taken into account, including the two videos, it was felt that there was "no reasonable prospect of a conviction on the assault charge."
When charges are stayed, they can be brought back at a later date, but Zimmer said she thought that was unlikely in this case. The charge of obstruction, for allegedly not providing identification, was laid by the municipal enforcement department and was handled by the city's lawyer Kerry Penney, which was also stayed.
One video, shot from a Fort Gary apartment unit on Sept 20, showed Jaeb being taken to the ground in the parking lot by the two bylaw officers. It was seen hundreds of times and sparked outrage on social media over the officers' actions. Video of the event was also captured by the camera mounted on the dashboard of the bylaw officer's vehicle.
At the time, Jaeb said he was followed into the parking lot by a bylaw officer in his vehicle who told him he was being ticketed for not wearing his seat belt.
Jaeb said the officer asked for identification but before handing it over to him Jaeb said he asked the officer for his ID. He said that's when the officer tried to pull him out of his vehicle and arrest him.
Jaeb said the officer was able to get one handcuff on him and managed to pull him out of the truck. That's when the video showed the second bylaw officer rushing to the scene and the two of them taking Jaeb to the ground. Jaeb admitted punching the officer but said he did so only after the officer had tried to punch him first. Several RCMP officers arrived at the scene following the confrontation, Jaeb said, adding he was then arrested and taken to the detachment cells, where he said he was held for about three hours.
The day after the criminal charges were stayed, Jaeb appeared in traffic court and pleaded guilty to not wearing a seat belt.
He was represented by lawyer Alan Regel who testified that Jaeb had difficulty using the shoulder harness part of the seat belt because of a sore shoulder.
Justice of the Peace Kevin Davis lowered the fine for Jaeb to $25 from the prescribed $100.
He also suggested that if Jaeb has difficulty wearing the shoulder harness he could get a note from a doctor explaining that.
"I'm just relieved this is all over," Jaeb said, outside traffic court. "It's taken too much of my time, energy and money."
