3 Winnipeg officers charged with assault in connection with 2022 arrest

• UPDATE:Assault charges stayed against 3 Winnipeg police officers

Three Winnipeg police officers have been charged with assault causing bodily harm after a male reported he was injured during an arrest last year.

Const. Evan Fehr, Const. Barry Knudsen and Const. Tyler Rahnof the Winnipeg Police Service are to appear incourt next month on the charges, the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba said in a news release on Friday.

The IIU received a report on April 12, 2022, about an allegation of a serious injury sustained by a male one day earlier, according to Friday's news release.The injury allegedly happened while he was being arrested by three Winnipeg officers, the police watchdog said.

Around that time, an IIU news release describedan incidentnear thecorner of Notre Dame Avenue and Isabel Streetthat had been reported to the investigative unit.

At about 9:30 p.m. on April 11, 2022, an off-duty officer reportedly saw a man stealing a catalytic converter on Young Street, according to an April 13, 2022, news release.

The officer confronted the man, who fled, but the officer caught up to him at 493 Notre Dame Ave., the police watchdogsaid at the time.

"An altercation ensued" and the officer "secured" the man until uniformed officers arrived, the news release said.

He wastaken into custody and later transported toHealth Sciences Centre, where he was found to have a fractured left orbital bone somethingdefined as a serious injury under the unit's regulations, theIIU said last April.

Police said one of the officers also sustained lacerations and bruising, according to the news release.

The investigative unitthen asked the public for information or video footage that could help in itsinvestigation.

On Friday, the IIU, whichinvestigates all serious incidents involving Manitoba police officers, said there are reasonable grounds to believe a crime occurred, so it has authorized charges against the three officers.

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