Regina man alleges RCMP used excessive force in arrest
Warning: This story contains graphic language and details some readers may find disturbing.
A Regina man is accusing RCMP in Punnichy of using excessive force during an arrest last week.
Braxtin Asapace, 20, has numerous bruises and cuts on his face and body after the encounter.
"I was scared, I was really scared for my life, I didn’t want to get it taken away," he told CTV News. "It just made me feel helpless, hopeless, very traumatizing."
According to Asapace, he was drinking with his mom and stepdad at their home on Kawacatoose First Nation on Wednesday night. As they became more intoxicated, Twilla Asapace said she called the police on her son to avoid the situation escalating.
RCMP said they were told two individuals in the home were assaulted by Braxtin.
"He suffers from bipolar depression, so I didn’t want things to escalate between us, so I called the RCMP to come and get him, just to put him in the drunk tank for the night," she said.
Braxtin says he was in a bedroom when RCMP arrived at the home. He claims they put him in handcuffs and alleges that’s when things started to get rough.
"All of a sudden, he started using his right arm to elbow me like this in the head and he said, 'Shut the f--k up', and really I was in disbelief, I couldn’t believe that was happening to me," Asapace said.
As he was being taken outside, Braxtin claims he was pushed down the front stairs of the house and landed on his face.
"I was trying to get up when I was handcuffed, I was using my legs and when I was looking back, all I seen was this black boot come and kick me right in my face," he said.
As he was being put in the back of the police cruiser, Asapace said he asked the officer if he was proud of what he’s doing.
"He said, 'F--k ya, damn rights,'" Asapace alleges. "I was like, 'Oh, I hope you got that camera recording.'"
Asapace said he was taken to the RCMP detachment where he spent the night in a holding cell and was released the next morning without charges.
The family filed a complaint with RCMP the next day and the Saskatchewan RCMP Criminal Operations has initiated an investigation into the incident.
In a statement to CTV News, the RCMP said, "We take complaints of this nature seriously, which is why the RCMP has also requested an independent observer from the Ministry of Corrections and Policing."
Asapace says he needed stitches on his lip and has received a CT scan to check for bleeding in his brain. He said the incident will stick with him long after the injuries heal.
"It changed my whole mindset about everything, it’s really bringing me down," he said. "The justice system, I don’t know why they treat us people like this, especially when we’re good people and I would cause no harm to no one.
"It really made me scared to call the cops, it really did… very traumatizing."
Twilla Asapace said she moved to the community in April and had no issues with RCMP until this night.
The Asapaces have reached out to a lawyer and are working on filing a complaint against the officers, who they allege wouldn’t provide their names or badge numbers.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'