Halifax police constable: No dangerous takedown in April 2021 arrest of woman

A Halifax Regional Police constable testified Tuesday that she was part of a team of officers who arrested an intoxicated, aggressive and erratic woman in the Kearney Lake area of Halifax more than two years ago.

“She started kicking, flailing, pushing, pulling away, twisting, dropping to the ground, jumping up, kicking off the wall, basically actively and aggressively resisting and doing everything in her power to not comply with the lawful arrest,” Const. Hannah Burridge, appearing in front of a three-member Nova Scotia Police Review Board panel,  said in describing the behaviour of Susan Doman.
 
The hearing began Tuesday with the audiotape of a 911 call made by a Dartmouth man, who complained of his ex-girlfriend, whom he identified as Doman, coming to his home, trying to gain entry and keying the vehicle of the woman who was inside the home with him.

That, Burridge said, led police to an apartment on Armstrong Court in Halifax sometime after 2 a.m. on April 28, 2021, to arrest Doman for property damage and for breaching undertakings to stay away from her ex-boyfriend.

“When we advised her of why we were there, we did tell her right away that she was under arrest,” Burridge told the panel. “She began to argue with us about whether the undertakings were still valid.”

Burridge said she and Const. Kaven Daneault were trying to communicate with Doman that she should accompany them on her own accord, but Doman insisted the undertakings were invalid and that they should call the judge to confirm that.

Doman later complained to regional police about the conduct of Burridge and Const. Jason Wilson, who joined the arresting team later, during the arrest. The complaint said Wilson used excessive force and had put both hands around Doman’s neck and slammed her to the floor.

An internal HRP disciplinary hearing resulted in Wilson being suspended for 40 hours and ordered to take training in the use of force.

Wilson appealed, and before the police review board hearing opened last November, the HRP decision against the constable was reversed. 

Burridge was not disciplined.

Chairwoman Jean McKenna, Simon MacDonald and Nadine Bernard were to hear further testimony related to Wilson’s appeal Tuesday and Wednesday at a Halifax hotel, concluding hearing testimony that was paused after three days last November because of the death of Wilson’s lawyer, David Bright. 

Testifying in November, Wilson said he did not choke Doman or throw her to the floor of the apartment after answering a dispatch call to assist in the arrest. He initially said Doman, handcuffed with her arms behind her back, spit on him and his effort to deflect her face away led to Doman’s weight shifting and causing them both to fall to the floor.

Daneault testified in November that he was behind Doman when this happened, saying he heard Wilson say that Doman spit on him, and when he pushed her face away, she lost her balance and fell.

Another officer on the scene, Const. Olivier Duquet-Perron, testified that he also heard Wilson say Doman had spit on him. He said the officer placed both hands around the woman’s neck and took her down to the floor.

“At no time did I fully grab Ms. Doman by her throat,” Wilson testified.

He later adjusted his testimony to say Doman had attempted to spit on him.

Burridge testified Tuesday that when Wilson arrived at the apartment, she and Daneault had already lifted Doman out of the chair, where she sat and lit a cigarette while ignoring their advice to come with them voluntarily. Shortly afterward, she was handcuffed.

‘Horking sound’

Burridge testified that as police officers led Doman along to exit the apartment, she heard a noise from Doman that someone makes when they are about to spit, a “horking sound in their throat as if to bring up phlegm, purse their lips.

“She was about to spit in Const. Wilson’s face,” Burridge said, adding that officers were especially sensitive to being spit on and being struck with the saliva of others because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

“What I saw from that point is that Const. Wilson had pushed his arm to deflect her face away from his. There was so much clutter on the floor that with the momentum from him trying to deflect her head,” Doman fell backward.

“Const. Wilson had also fallen back and he reached over to put his hand behind her head because the floor was a tiled floor.

“I do remember they were on the ground and Const. Wilson had his hand on her upper chest. He was stuck, hand behind her head. He was stuck there for a couple of seconds. Both of his hands were tied up.  After a couple of seconds, another officer helped him up off the floor and they helped Doman back to her feet.”

‘Out of control’

Burridge said she was later asked to go outside and search Doman, who was in custody in the back seat of the cruiser. 

“She was absolutely out of control in the back of the police cruiser to the point that I deemed it was not safe for myself or other officers to remove her from the back of the police car in order to search her properly,” she said.

Burridge said she and Daneault transported Doman to the force’s prisoner-care facility. Burridge said she left the facility because her presence seemed to further aggravate an already upset Doman.

The hearing will continue Wednesday with Burridge completing her testimony, a video of the arrest and testimony from Doman.