A Vancouver police officer who violently arrested a young Black man for jaywalking in 2018 was convicted of criminal charges this week.
Const. Jarrod Sidhu is guilty of assault with a weapon for the takedown of then 24-year-old Jamiel Moore-Williams, Judge Emmet Duncan ruled Monday (Feb. 13).
Moore-Williams was crossing Granville Street in February 2018 when a group of police officers stopped him for jaywalking, with Sidhu using a stun gun in the process.
RCMP launched an investigation into the arrest that August. They chose not to recommend criminal charges for the involved officers, but the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner overrode that decision and referred the case directly to the B.C. Prosecution Service.
Sidhu and his colleague, Const. Jagpreet Ghuman, were both criminally charged on Dec. 8, 2020. Crown stayed the charges against Ghuman last July.
READ ALSO: 2 Vancouver police officers charged with assault in arrest of a Black man
Sidhu now awaits sentencing for his conviction. His future at the Vancouver Police Department will be determined by a Police Act investigation, which has been on hold during the criminal proceedings.
He’s also one of the defendants named in a civil lawsuit by Moore-Williams, who claims he was stopped by police based on his appearance. The lawsuit is ongoing.
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