Officer sued for alleged excessive use of force
A Whitehorse man is suing an RCMP officer for assault and unlawful arrest.
A Whitehorse man is suing an RCMP officer for assault and unlawful arrest.
Documents filed Tuesday in Yukon Supreme Court allege Stefan Brynjolfsson was punched repeatedly in the face by Whitehorse RCMP Const. Nathan Menard, causing him to fall and hit his head on the ground.
He was also “violently restrained” with an armhold, he says.
The altercation took place in July 2013.
It left Brynjolfsson with a head injury, cuts and bruising on his face, cuts and contusions on his back and soft tissue injuries to his right elbow and shoulder, he alleges.
According to the documents, Brynjolfsson and Menard knew each other previously from a Whitehorse gym. They’re both trained in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
In the early-morning of July 2, 2013, Brynjolfsson was walking a female friend home from a downtown bar.
Menard drove up and asked the woman if she was OK, the documents state.
Brynjolfsson told her she didn’t have to answer.
After Brynjolfsson dropped off his friend, he walked home.
He saw Menard “affronting” another woman, and called out to the officer to leave her alone.
Then Menard came running at him and hit him multiple times in the face, Brynjolfsson alleges.
He fell to the ground, hit his head and blacked out.
When he came to, Menard was still punching him, the documents allege.
Brynjolfsson says he put his arms in front of his face for protection, and the officer pulled his right arm into a painful armhold.
Two officers called to the scene for back-up did not offer medical attention for his injuries and bleeding face, Brynjolfsson alleges.
He was put in the back of Menard’s cruiser and taken to the drunk tank at the Whitehorse Correctional Centre.
He was charged with resisting arrest and obstructing a police officer, but those were later stayed.
The lawsuit alleges Menard didn’t have grounds to believe Brynjolfsson committed a crime, nor that an arrest was necessary.
He was also not advised of his rights when he was arrested, Brynjolfsson says in the documents.
The man seeks damages for physical and psychological injuries, financial loss because he was unable to work afterward and a permanent injury to his right shoulder.
A case management conference is scheduled for Sept. 1.
Comments (12)
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Shannon on Sep 4, 2016 at 11:26 am
I'm wondering what the status is with this lawsuit... has it been resolved or is it still ongoing?
I am very deeply troubled by the actions of this officer, particularly as multiple incidents involving him have surfaced. The video of the other incident he was involved in is quite upsetting to watch, and lends credibility to Mr. Brynjolfsson's version of events.
Thank you for looking into an update on this.
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YukonMax on Jun 3, 2015 at 7:35 am
@Tater. You seem to forget that many officers are really bad mouthed and will insult you at will. Yes, take it with a smile or lay down on the ground with your hands in the back. Now that's polite!
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Tater on May 29, 2015 at 3:42 pm
I have never had a problem with any RCMP. I respect them for their job, and refer to them as "Sir" and respectfully answer any questions asked. Maybe if these other folks did the same, they wouldn't have a problem.
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ben on May 29, 2015 at 10:08 am
Sounds like a jump on the bandwagon scene to me. The chips are down on Mr Menard so let's all round off like a wolf pack and bring him down, whilst fully taking advantage of the media circus around the facebook video. Jen - to me that video is clearly a video of the last minute of a five or six minute fight. What happened before? No one knows, but I'm betting the young man wasn't doing arts and crafts at the kitchen table when the cop arrives.
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June Jackson on May 28, 2015 at 3:38 pm
Captain Obvious: I totally agree with you.. 100%. I was merely saying, this is one side of this event.
I am interested to know why Mr. Brynjolfsson waited 2 years..if someone did that to me without cause the crap would be hitting the fan a lot sooner than 2 years.
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Captain Obvious on May 28, 2015 at 11:27 am
@June
Get a grip- officers of the law must be examples that we can follow. They must (at the very least) act to a standard which sets a bar for the very rules they represent. Not the first time this officer has expressed an asymmetrical level of violence...
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and so it starts... on May 28, 2015 at 10:15 am
What was this person doing in the first place with his lady friend to make the cop pull over and ask her if she was ok??
I'm by no means defending the police. It might be an abuse of power. However, there are always 2 sides. ALWAYS.
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hmm on May 27, 2015 at 10:19 pm
Anyone else see a pattern here, same officer, same allegation, different "victim".
Up 38 Down 37
Richard on May 27, 2015 at 6:38 pm
Pretty darn sure this is the same R.C.M.P officer that was shown beating up a young man in that video that went viral.
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Jen on May 27, 2015 at 5:40 pm
Isn't this the same officer who was seen punching another guy in the face in the video? It was seen more then 1k times thru social media! He needs to be STOPPED!
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moe on May 27, 2015 at 5:29 pm
Isn't this the same RCMP officer who was on video recently punching another man in the face while the guy was in a defensive position and offering no resistance or violence?
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June Jackson on May 27, 2015 at 3:55 pm
This is one side of the incident. Be interesting to see what the RCMP officer has to say about it, several witnesses too.
Why did Mr. Brynjolfsson wait 2 years to file?