Charges stayed against Chilliwack Mountie who shot domestic assault suspect

Crown prosecutors person stayed charges against a Chilliwack RCMP serviceman who changeable a home unit fishy astir 4 years ago.

Const. Keven Biagioni was charged with discharging a firearm with intent, aggravated battle and careless usage of a firearm aft an Independent Investigations Office probe of the Jan. 12, 2021 incident.

In a connection Tuesday, the BC Prosecution Service said the alteration came aft grounds fixed by officers astatine a preliminary enquiry successful November 2023, suggested the suspect, who was equipped with a barbeque skewer, could person been adjacent capable to enactment an serviceman successful danger.

That led the Crown to clasp a use-of-force adept and to subsequently re-evaluate whether determination was a important likelihood of condemnation — a cardinal metric connected whether to proceed with charges.

In its statement, the prosecution work laid retired that a pistillate had called 911 to study she had been assaulted by her husband, who had past near their location successful a truck. The brace had been doing ace cocaine, and grounds showed helium had written substance messages stating helium wanted to beryllium changeable by police.

About 90 minutes later, officers recovered the antheral successful his motortruck adjacent the Vedder River, wherever they utilized their cruisers to container him in. The antheral came retired holding an “edged weapon” aboriginal identified arsenic a 14-inch barbeque skewer.

According to the report, the antheral refused orders to driblet the limb and allegedly shuffled his feet and raised his hands to thorax level, astatine which constituent a K9 serviceman who was closest to him and not protected by a conveyance broadcast “knife” implicit the radio.

Trending Now

Biagioni past fired twice, hitting the antheral erstwhile successful the chest, according to the Crown.

In the archetypal report, constabulary astatine the country gave varying estimates arsenic to however acold the K9 serviceman was from the suspect, ranging from 10 to 20 feet to arsenic overmuch arsenic 30 to 50 feet. The fishy estimated the region to beryllium 20 to 25 feet.

At the preliminary inquiry, the K9 serviceman maintained his estimation of betwixt 10 and 20 feet, portion different serviceman testified the region was 10 feet and the serviceman who had fixed the largest archetypal estimation testified the region was 20 feet, and could person been closer. Two others who did not straight spot the shooting testified it was imaginable the region was 10 to 15 feet.

The fishy testified helium was 25 to 30 feet from the K9 officer.

The prosecution work said its usage of unit adept reported that an equipped idiosyncratic could reasonably screen 21 feet successful 1.5 seconds and that based connected the circumstances of the incident, Biagioni’s usage of unit was “reasonable, necessary, and proportionate with the AP’s behaviour and the level of hazard helium posed.”

The prosecution work said the operation of the IIO investigation, the preliminary enquiry and the usage of unit expert’s study would person provided Biagioni with a viable defence nether the Criminal Code, meaning the lawsuit nary longer met the modular for complaint assessment.