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A foot chase that ended with an Edmonton police officer facing assault charges began with a stop about a bicycle bell, another officer testified in court Tuesday.
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Last year, Const. Michael Partington was charged with assaulting Elliot McLeod by driving his knee into the man’s back while he was restrained beneath another officer.
Bystanders recorded video of the chaotic arrest, which emerged almost a year later — weeks after the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. Partington was charged with assault in June 2020 and in a rare move, the Edmonton Police Service relieved him from duty without pay.
On Tuesday, the second day of Partington’s judge-alone trial, court heard from Const. Curtis McCargar, the first officer to have contact with McLeod on Aug. 27, 2019.
McCargar, who joined the force in 2016, testified he was conducting “pro-active” patrols in the Alberta Avenue area when he saw a man riding a mountain bike on the sidewalk on 94 Street near 115 Avenue. The officer pulled his cruiser alongside the man, who he later identified as McLeod, and confirmed he had neither a bell nor a horn as required by city bylaws.
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McCargar rolled down his window and identified himself as a police officer. He said his intention was to “educate” McLeod about the bylaw, but that the man became “instantly argumentative.” McLeod gave a fake name, then fled as McCargar checked the name in his dash computer.
McCargar radioed for backup and gave chase in his cruiser. He caught up to McLeod two blocks east, jumped from his car and dragged him off the bike and onto the ground.
McCargar said McLeod’s behaviour worried him.
“I don’t know why he’s running from me, this is a bylaw offence, and he’s an incredibly motivated individual,” McCargar testified.
McLeod and the officer struggled on the ground in a residential area. McCargar testified that McLeod at one point turned his body toward him and reached toward his own waistband. McCargar punched McLeod three or four times in the back of the head.
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Eventually, McLeod muttered “OK, I’m done” and put his hands out to his side. However, McCargar claimed McLeod continued to resist as Partington arrived on scene.
“Within a couple seconds Const. Partington walks up quickly and delivers a knee stun to Mr. McLeod,” McCargar said. He recalled thinking “thank God, my backup is here.”
Asked by the Crown to clarify what he meant by a “knee stun,” McCargar said Partington “drove his knee into Mr. McLeod’s (back). He would have dropped his knee into Mr. McLeod.”
On the video, McLeod can be heard screaming and sobbing in pain after being struck.
McCargar said they were then able to handcuff the suspect.
McCargar admitted to leaning over the prone man and shouting “do not run from the police.” He said he may have called McLeod a “mother f—er,” and admitted to shouting “did you think I wouldn’t catch you, you fat fuck?”
McCargar admitted he used language he would not otherwise use, saying he was frightened and in pain from a hand injury sustained during the initial take-down.
“At that moment I regrettably vented my frustration verbally and I regret it,” he told court. “I don’t conduct myself in that way, I don’t like to convey myself in that way.”
McCargar was not charged for his role in the arrest.
Provincial court Judge Peter Ayotte is hearing the trial, which is scheduled for five days.
