Cassidy Oliver (The Province) – A North-Duncan RCMP officer has been charged with aggravated assault related to a 2009 incident in Chemainus that began as a traffic stop and ended in gunfire.
Const. David Pompeo was one of two plainclothes officers who pulled over William Gillespie, 41, and his passenger on September 18, 2009 as they drove along Juniper Road.
Gillespie and his passenger, Dale Brewer, were ordered out of the car and, according to Pompeo, fired his gun, striking Gillespie in the lower neck.
He was taken to hospital in critical condition where he remained for 10 days. The bullet pierced his lung and lodged itself in his spine where it remains.
Gillespie launched a lawsuit this year against Pompeo and his partner that night, Const. David Barnett, as well as B.C.’s solicitor general for negligence.
In a statement of claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court, Gillespie said he was unarmed, with his hands above his head, and in the process of lying down when Pompeo fired.
The claim stats that after shooting Gillespie, Pompeo walked up to the injured man, kicked him, rolled him over with his boot, and put the gun in his face.
“Constable Pompeo wrongfully and intentionally committed assault and battery on thepPlaintiff by shooting him, kicking him and then threatening to shoot him again,” read the statement.
“At all relevant times the plaintiff was co-operating with the directions of Constable Barnett and Constable Pompeo.”
According to media reports at the time, RCMP said Gillespie was known to have a criminal record and was being pulled over for driving while prohibited.
RCMP also said that Gillespie did not stop for two blocks after Pompeo flipped on the lights of his unmarked police SUV, according to the media reports.
The Victoria Police Department led the investigation into the shooting incident and filed their findings to Crown counsel last December. Crown approved the charges Friday.
A separate RCMP code of conduct investigation remains ongoing.
Pompeo, who had 4.5 years of service at the time, has since been transferred to the Nanaimo detachment where he remains assigned to administrative duties.
He is scheduled to appear in Duncan Provincial Court June 7.
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