(Montreal) A man is suing the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) and two of its officers for $125,000 after being handcuffed and detained on suspicion of stealing his own car.
Brice Dossa, a 44-year-old Montrealer from Benin, is seeking damages from the City and the police officers named in his introductory application filed Tuesday in Superior Court.
Mr. Dossa, who is black, claims he was the victim of racial profiling, unlawful arrest and detention and excessive force during the event which he describes as humiliating.
The facts date back to November 3 in the parking lot of a Montreal shopping center. A video of the arrest had been widely circulated on social media.
In the footage, Mr. Dossa can be seen indignantly asking plainclothes officers why they handcuffed him before checking to see if the vehicle belonged to him. Mr. Dossa also asks them if he has this treatment because he has black skin.
In the lawsuit, it is mentioned that he had to wait in handcuffs after being cleared of suspicion because officers did not have the key and had to call colleagues to bring one.
Montreal police declined to comment Wednesday as the matter is before the courts. Last November, the SPVM explained the intervention in a series of tweets on Twitter.
The messages state that two expert car theft investigators found an unoccupied Honda CRV SUV in a mall parking lot that “showed typical and obvious attempted theft marks on one of the locks (damage).”
The citizen who came to take possession of it was briefly detained for “investigative purposes” before being released unconditionally, the SPVM said on the social network.
In his motion, Mr. Dossa denies that his vehicle, a 2021 Honda CR-V, then had any signs of attempted theft.
Mr. Dossa worked as a full-time patient attendant and Uber driver. He claims to have suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and that a doctor had to prescribe him a work stoppage for several weeks, resulting in a significant loss of income.
He has no family in Quebec, where he has permanent resident status. The court document says he had to return to Benin in February to have the emotional support of his family.
Mr. Dossa’s lawyer, Malyka Jean-Baptiste, said in an interview that her client never received an apology from the police. He also filed a complaint with the Police Ethics Commissioner.
