Mountie cleared after man ends up with broken rib, punctured lung

An RCMP officer who kicked a man at least twice while trying to control him during a traffic stop in central Alberta has been cleared of wrongdoing, despite the fact the man ended up in hospital with a broken rib and punctured lung.

Inconsistencies between witnessstatements andthepossibilitythat the man's rib injuries werecaused when the truck he was in plowed into a ditchprecluded any charges against the officer, Susan Hughson, executive director of the Alberta SeriousIncident Response Team, saidin a news release.

On New Year's Eve 2014, officers tried to pullovera pickup truck near Blackfaldsas it drove in a peculiarmanner with its high beams on.

The truck failed to stop, even striking the arm of an officer who had left his car to wave the truck over.

Theofficer, with the help of a second patrol car, gave chase.

During the pursuit, the people inthe truck could beseen throwing beer cans out the back cab window.

The truck eventually drove through a T-intersection and into theditch.

Three passengers in the truck, two women and a 47-year-old man, got out of the truck. The driver, later determined to be too drunk to drive, remained inside.

Man approached officers swearing

The officer ordered the passengers to the ground. The women complied, but the man approached the officers sputtering profanity.

The officer said he hit the man with his service pistol. The man fell, but refused to stay down, so the officerkicked him in the torso two or three times. He was able to control the man long enough tohandcuffhim.

The man claimed he was kicked in the head twice and the ribs three times, causing him to lose consciousness.

ASIRTinvestigated but could not conclude unnecessary force was used.

The female passengers gave differing versions of events and the reliability of their accounts was further undermined by the fact that they had been drinking, the news release said.

Also while it was likely the man's injuriescame during the arrest,it's possible he washurt when the truck left the road.

"The most reasonable inference is that the injuries were sustained as a result of the force used, the possibility that the injuries could have been caused by the single vehicle leaving the roadway, going through a sign and then into a ditch cannot be unequivocally eliminated."

ASIRTinvestigates incidents where the actions of police result in serious injury or death.