Nadia Moharib (Calgary Sun) – Frustrated and beyond disappointed, Dennis Kraft is turning to the courts hoping to see police held accountable for, he says, taking him down like a criminal when what he needed was medical help.
It’s an incident, the Calgarian says, that had cops breaking his ribs, pepperspraying him, bruising his lungs and humiliating him.
An apology might have sufficed but four years later, the retired school principal has yet to receive one.
“I wasn’t breaking any laws, I don’t even use violent language,” 68-year-old Kraft says.
“If I can gain, mentally and physically, with an apology, I’d feel a lot better, but it’s been so many years, I don’t know how sincere people can be.”
On April 12, 2006, Kraft was on his way to visit his mother when he pulled into a gas station in Prevost, 480 km northeast of Calgary.
Kraft, who has diabetes, remembers gassing up his Toyota, grabbing snacks to boost his sugar levels and sharing a sausage and bun with his dog, Benji.
People in glycemic shock can have difficulties with speech, coordination, balance and be confused and even combative.
While he has sketchy memories of what happened next, the grandfather hasn’t forgotten injuries he says it left, both physical and emotional.
“I recall I was struggling with someone, then I was peppersprayed and it was extremely painful,” Kraft says
“I was nauseated and went down on all fours, I didn’t know where I was at, and shortly after I felt two severe blows to the chest.”
He says a Mountie, seemingly unaware he was in glycemic shock — although Kraft was wearing a medical identification necklace stating he is diabetic — tried to handcuff him, assaulting and blinding him with pepperspary in the process.
He says a corporal arrived and told the constable to remove the handcuffs before taking Kraft to hospital, his eyes burning and body aching as they went.
“I could barely breathe and move around,” Kraft says
The doctor told him he had a broken rib before hospital staff drove him to his truck so Kraft could drive the 100 kms to his mother’s Saskatchewan home.
“It was a long, painful journey,” he says.
“When I got there I had great difficulty lying down and when I moved went in to convulsions and lost control of my bladder.
“The pain was unbelievable.”
The next day, still in agony, he began coughing up blood-filled phlegm and knew he had more than a broken rib — a hospital visit confirming his suspicions.
“The doctor told me, ‘You’ve got four broken ribs, it could be more, and you’ve got a contused lung,’” Kraft recalls.
His outraged son called Mounties looking for answers while Kraft held out hope police might apologize.
“I kind of half expected something might be done,” he says now.
“What concerns me, is how can this man be a police in the public when he did this to me? How do you pepperpray someone who can barely stand, knee him in the ribs — even if you have broken a law, you don’t get beaten up — but I hadn’t done anything wrong, absolutely nothing to warrant it.”
Kraft, who says he was in top physical shape at the time of the alleged incident, says he’s watched his health decline, largely related to the many injuries sustained that day, and is frustrated police continue to wash their hands of any wrongdoing.
“I have been very patient,” he says.
“I thought by now the senior administration of the RCMP would realize there has been a serious mistake made and do something to rectify the situation.”
The emotional toll has been tough.
“Of course, it’s very depressing, I feel I was brutally assaulted and (they) just totally ignored it and think it’s a joke,” Kraft says.
“I tried not to dwell on it but an apology would have gone a long way.”
RCMP have a very different version of events, in a statement of defence, stating a constable was responding to a complaint of a possible impaired driver that afternoon.
“Upon arrival.. (the constable) found the plaintiff laying unconscious face down on the ground near his vehicle with blood on his face,” it states.
Police state they helped the man, who appeared impaired, sit up before a struggle ensued.
Putting blame on Kraft for his injuries, stating he should have better monitored his diabetes, was hurt when he fell, resisted arrest and didn’t tell police he had diabetes, the statement claims police had “reasonable and probable grounds to believe (he) was guilty of impaired driving” and “justified” in the arrest.
“It was subsequently discovered the plaintiff was diabetic and may have suffered from low blood sugar at the time of his arrest,” the documents state.
“The defendants admit the plaintiff is diabetic but deny each and every other allegation.”
Kraft’s lawyer, Clint Suntjens, says police “overstepped boundaries by a mile,” and “laid a licking “ on his client while depriving him of timely medical aid.
The lawsuit states police caused Kraft to “suffer severe bodily injuries,” by “inflicting blows with their hands, feet and batons” and “ignoring or failing to appreciate (he) was in a state of diabetic shock … acting in a manner which was humiliating, degrading and inhumane and entirely disproportionate to what is required in the circumstances.”
It names Const. Antony Scarpeli and Cpl.Terry Wickett as defendants, seeking $300,000 in damages but Suntjens says his client, more than anything, wants RCMP held accountable and to ensure a similar scenario doesn’t happen to someone else.
“He’s a retired gentleman who lives comfortably, I don’t think he’s doing it for the money,” Suntjens says.
“I think his motives are far more pure … he feels the RCMP have let him down and is disappointed how he was treated by a police officer, it just goes goes against his entire belief system.”
Suntjens hopes the case goes to trial later this year.
Recent Comments