A former police officer involved in the violent arrest of an Ottawa man who later died in hospital told a coroner's inquest that he was traumatized by the incident and worried about his own safety at the time.
The inquest into the July 2016 death of 38-year-old Abdirahman Abdi began earlier this week, with witnesses testifying Wednesday.
Abdi died after police responded to a 911 call reporting that a man was groping women outside a coffee shop in Ottawa's Hintonburg neighbourhood. The inquest has heard that Abdi appeared to be in a mental health crisis at the time.
Former Const. David Weir, who was the first responding officer, testified Wednesday that Abdi's death was a "critical stress incident."
“It still affects me to this day. It’s the reason why I’m not working," he said.
Weir, who was a member of the Ottawa Police Service from 2002 until earlier this year, said police were short staffed that day and he volunteered to take the call about Abdi.
Weir said the report he received through police dispatch did not match the scene he arrived at that day.
"This guy’s behaviour is so erratic," he said, adding that his thinking at the time was: "I'm going to end this because it’s out of control. It’s just me and this large man."
Weir described chasing Abdi and repeatedly striking him with a baton in an attempt to get him to stop running.
"It was like I hit him with a fly swatter," Weir said.
The inquest was shown security camera footage of Abdi's arrest, with presiding coroner Dr. David Eden thanking the jury for watching what he called a "harrowing" video showing Weir and Const. Daniel Montsion hit and tackle Abdi to the ground. Montsion was charged in the case with manslaughter, aggravated assault and assault with a weapon and was found not guilty in 2020.
“This call has been traumatic for me and still is to this day," an emotional Weir said. "There are things about it I don’t remember, it's not because I don’t want to."
Due to a lack of supervisors on duty, Weir said he was forced to stay at the crime scene instead of being driven to a police station to write his report as was standard procedure.
“We have people trying to crash into the crime scene from behind us … there are people on the street who are yelling," he said, adding that he heard someone accuse him of crushing Abdi's head.
Weir said he was worried for his safety in the minutes following the arrest.
“Honest to God, I thought I was going to get a brick to the head," he said.
The jurors heard Monday that Abdi was born in Somalia and went to a refugee camp in Kenya with his family before moving to Canada in 2009.
Through an agreed statement of facts, the inquest heard that Abdi appeared to be in a mental health crisis when he interacted with patrons at a coffee shop on the day of his arrest, with multiple women saying he grabbed their breasts without consent.
The inquest, set to last four weeks, is mandated by law because Abdi was injured while in police custody. The jury is not tasked with determining legal responsibility but it can make recommendations to avoid similar deaths in the future.
A lawsuit Abdi's family filed against the Ottawa Police Service was settled out of court in 2021.
The details of the settlement are confidential, with both sides agreeing in a statement at the time that "significant improvements" need to be made to how police respond to people experiencing mental health issues.
Abdi's family said in a statement earlier this week that his death could have been prevented and that they hope the inquest will spur changes.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 20, 2024.
Nick Wells, The Canadian Press
