A second Prince Albert police officer has pleaded guilty to assaulting a citizen in the city.
Today, officer Michael Ozar pleaded guilty to assaulting a female prisoner on October 3rd, 2010.
The incident occurred in the police lock-up.
Cheryl Morin had been brought in on a charge of public intoxication and was waiting for processing.
She yelled at the officers and refused to submit to a search.
Two officers finally grabbed her arms and held her while a female attendant performed the search.
Morin kept resisting, though, and eventually was taken to the ground by the officers.
It was at this point that Ozar, who was standing away from the scuffle, stepped forward and put his foot on the back of her head.
His lawyer, Michael Klassen, admitted the officer acted inappropriately — but also told the judge Morin tried to spit on Ozar before he stepped on her.
He told the judge Ozar could have charged her for assault, but chose not to.
In the end, he asked the judge to grant his client an absolute discharge.
Meantime, the Crown is calling for a nine-to-12-month conditional discharge, but one in which Ozar would have to take anger management classes, do 40 hours of community service and report to a probation officer.
Speaking outside the courthouse, the victim said that still isn’t enough for what she had to endure:
“My right side of my face was swollen out to here and my eye was shut and I had a partial cast. I could not use my right arm for three months, I couldn’t write, couldn’t lift things for numerous months after I took the brace off, so it has affected me.”
Morin also says she doesn’t feel it’s fair Ozar will be able to walk away from the incident after being on leave for a year.
The judge will hand down his sentence later this month.
Meantime, it was also learned this week that another officer in Prince Albert, George Neufeld, was recently sentenced to one year’s probation for punching and pushing a prisoner in the police car parking garage.
Neufeld’s actions were captured on video and a complaint was then sent to the province’s complaints commission.
The police service says Neufeld is off-duty until further notice while he deals with matters under the Saskatchewan Police Act.
That incident occurred on December 31st, 2010.