A new video detailing an alleged assault on a police officer in Hedley has surfaced, as a trial on the issue gets underway.
Bremner Lance is accused of assault on a peace officer causing bodily harm and uttering threats from the September 2016 incident in which he and Const. Kendall Dean Oliver got into a physical confrontation.
Black Press Media’s Penticton Western News obtained the video from 2016, recently shown in court.
In trial, Oliver said Lance had approached angrily during a call to a vehicle doing burnouts in Hedley, and that Lance had attacked him.
During cross-examination, defence lawyer Don Skogstad noted the vehicle Oliver had tied to the call did not match the description, as it was a different make. The licence plate had matched, but Skogstad suggested that given the type of vehicle was different from what was described in the call, the licence plate, too, could have been wrong.
Cpl. Chad Parsons came to assist Oliver during the physical confrontation, striking Lance twice with his baton in the process.
Skogstad also questioned Parsons on the severity of the first strike, noting Parsons raised the baton above his head as he wound up to strike Lance the first time. He also questioned the necessity of the second strike, suggesting the struggle had mostly devolved to the two grappling on the ground by then.
The Western News successfully advocated for the release of a video of the fight shown as evidence in court. Some conditions on that release required the video to be edited.
The matter is set to return to the courts briefly in June to fix a new date for the matter.
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Dustin Godfrey | Reporter
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