A man bitten by a police dog during his arrest is suing the Whitehorse RCMP, alleging officers used excessive force.

Jeremiah Moses, a Carcross resident, filed his lawsuit on Monday in Yukon Supreme Court. He was arrested on the night of June 3 near the Annie Lake Road.

In his statement of claim, Moses writes that he and his girlfriend were arguing as they drove to Carcross that night. He pulled off the highway so they could keep talking.

While turning onto Annie Lake Road, he got too close to a vehicle in front of him, he says.

He pulled onto Two Horse Creek Road at about 11 p.m., drove to the end of the trail and parked his Hummer.

He and his girlfriend talked for 30 minutes to an hour, he says, then fell asleep.

Moses woke up to find an RCMP cruiser and a Suburban, four officers and one police dog outside his vehicle.

They opened the driver’s side door and pulled him out, he says.

“There was no announcement of who they were, that I was being arrested or what I was being arrested for,” Moses writes.

They put him on the ground and told him to stop resisting, he alleges.

He says that he remained on the ground, with his arms straight out. An officer who he said was Const. Dan Rouleau yelled, “Get him, get him,” Moses alleges.

The police dog then bit and shook his arm for 20 to 30 seconds.

“All I did during this was repeat, “I’m not resisting, I’m not resisting,” and the officer was repeating, “get him, get him’ and ‘keep on him,’” Moses writes.

One officer “stomped” on his face, bloodying his right eye and bruising the right side of his face, he alleges.

About a minute after he was pulled out of the vehicle, Moses says he was handcuffed and put into the cruiser.

He was taken to the emergency room at Whitehorse General Hospital, where his arm was stitched up.

He writes that he had 10 holes in his right forearm from the dog bites, and a 1/4-inch laceration.

After the incident, Moses was charged with forcible confinement, assault causing bodily harm, resisting arrest, attempting to evade police, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and two breaches of a probation order.

He alleges in his statement of claim that RCMP charged him with these offences to justify the level of force that was used.

“In any situation involving litigation, it is important to avoid doing anything to disrupt due process,” Whitehorse RCMP Const. Julia Fox said when asked about the lawsuit this morning.

“To ensure that the facts can be considered fairly and objectively, we are not in a position to make a public statement on the matter at this time.” 

The week after Moses was arrested, Whitehorse RCMP issued a news release.

“There was a certain level of force which was used in relation to this incident; however, it is consistent with RCMP training and the Criminal Code of Canada,” it stated.

According to police, that night they determined that a woman was being held in a vehicle against her will and that she was in distress. Police believed the male suspect may have had firearms with him.

Whitehorse officers and two Carcross RCMP officers intercepted the suspect and his vehicle near the Annie Lake Road.

They attempted to conduct a roadside stop, but the suspect fled, speeding off toward Two Horse Creek Road, the news release said. Police located the vehicle on a dead-end road.

Given the potential for harm to the victim, the officers called in the police dog, a German shepherd named Crash.

It assisted in arresting the suspect, who refused to show his hands and was forcibly removed from his vehicle, RCMP said.

The woman in the car was injured and taken to hospital, where she was treated and released.

Moses is seeking damages for injuries he sustained during the arrest, for loss of his employment as a plumber due to his injuries, for medical expenses, for legal costs, and for time spent in jail as a result of what he says are false charges.

A case management conference is scheduled for July 28.