'Heat of the moment': Edmonton police officer reprimanded for shoving car chase suspect's head into wall
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Nearly six years after the arrest was caught on video, an Edmonton police officer has been reprimanded for shoving a handcuffed man's head into a wall.
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The Edmonton Police Service released a disciplinary decision Wednesday in the case of Const. Dylan Awid, whose arrest of car-chase suspect Kyle Parkhurst prompted an investigation by Alberta's police watchdog.
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Awid was criminally charged with assault, though charges were stayed by the Crown a short time later.
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During an internal Police Act investigation, Awid admitted he used excessive force in an 'emotionally charged situation.'
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'I let the emotions get too much of me,' the officer told an EPS Professional Standards Branch investigator. 'It was a screw up and you own it.'
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Parkhurst led police on a high-speed chase through Downtown Edmonton in a stolen pickup June 11, 2019. Police vehicles surrounded the stolen truck in a parking lot at 9830 106 Street, blocks from the Alberta legislature. Parkhurst backed into one of the police vehicles in a bid to escape, then slammed the truck into a second cruiser. He later tried to escape on foot.
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Video from the police helicopter and bystanders captured the arrest. Police are seen swarming the suspect, after which Awid jumped from the box of the truck, landing on Parkhurst's leg, then kicked him three times in the torso.
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After Parkhurst was in handcuffs, Awid shoved his head into what appears to be a concrete wall. Awid also admitted to shoving Parkhurst into the side of a police cruiser. According to the disciplinary decision, Parkhurst suffered two minor cuts to the side of his head, leg and muscle pain, and 'emotional trauma from his interaction with EPS members.'
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The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) investigated and charged Awid with assault on Oct. 7, 2021, more than two years after the arrest. The Crown, however, stayed the charges just over a month later.
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Parkhurst was charged with nine counts including assaulting a police officer, though he eventually pleaded to just four: dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, failing to stop after an accident and two breaches of recognizance. He was sentenced to 3 1/2 years with pretrial credit of one year.
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