A woman from Tataskweyak Cree Nation is suing the City of Winnipeg and two police officers after her common-law partner died following an encounter with Winnipeg police.
Elias Whitehead, 37, was involved in an encounter with officers near the intersection of Sherbrook Street and Broadway in Winnipeg on Oct. 15, 2023.
Manitoba’s police watchdog, which is investigating Whitehead’s in-custody death, has previously said officers were called to the West Broadway area shortly before 11 p.m. with a report of a man “acting erratically” in traffic.
Whitehead started to have difficulty breathing during his arrest, according to the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba. He received medical care from Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service members, who were nearby responding to an unrelated incident, police told the investigative unit.
He was taken to Health Sciences Centre, where he was pronounced dead.
His arrest was captured on camera by an eyewitness.
In a statement of claim filed earlier this month at Court of King’s Bench in Winnipeg, Jody Beardy, Whitehead’s common-law partner, says he was under police escort by an unknown officer, identified in the lawsuit as Pat Doe, and that Whitehead’s “hands were empty, behind his back, and he was compliant.”
Once they got to the cruiser car, the officer slammed Whitehead against the vehicle, where another unknown officer, identified as Miki Doe in the lawsuit, grabbed him, “threw him to the ground and repeatedly punched and kneed him,” the statement of claim alleges.
One officer kneeled on Whitehead, according to the lawsuit, which alleges he suffered a fatal injury as a result of the use of force by the officers.
The claim says Whitehead was defenceless, and “was compliant, unarmed, in a position of disadvantage, non-aggressive and presented no immediate threat” to the officers.
It alleges the officers committed forcible confinement against Whitehead and used physical force “without consent, necessity or legal justification.”
The lawsuit also claims it would have been apparent to the officers Whitehead was an Indigenous man, and accuses them of stereotyping and giving Whitehead “differential treatment based on his race.”
The lawsuit filed by Beardy, who is a teacher in Tataskweyak Cree Nation — just over 700 kilometres north of Winnipeg — seeks damages on behalf of herself and Whitehead’s family members, including his father, mother and siblings.
The allegations have not been tested in court and the City of Winnipeg has not yet filed a statement of defence.
Winnipeg Police Service public information officer Const. Pat Saydak said the service will not comment on the lawsuit, as the matter is before the court.
Beardy’s lawyer Martin Pollock says Whitehead’s death was “a tremendous loss” for his client, and that it was hard for her to see the video of the arrest recorded by the bystander.
“For her to observe a video capture of her loved one being administrated the blunt force while he’s laying down on his chest, defenceless … it’s shocking,” he said in an interview with CBC.
“Here he is alive, walking, then he’s on the ground receiving the administration of blunt force, and then he is dead.”
Beardy would ask herself, “Would my loved one be here if he wasn’t put down on the ground like that?” said Pollock.
“So ask that question — would he be alive?”
