A civil suit alleging that a Sault Ste. Marie businessman and his two adult children were unlawfully arrested and assaulted by Ontario Provincial Police officers more than a decade ago has been dismissed in its entirety.
Daniel Knox — owner and operator of Tree Men & A Chainsaw — along with his daughter Sherry Cole and son Harrison Knox initially filed the civil action in 2016, alleging the trio were unlawfully arrested and assaulted by officers during an incident that took place in a parking lot north of the Sault on June 11, 2014 on the heels of a driving complaint.
The family members had been seeking $2 million in damages from both the Ontario Provincial Police and the provincial government.
The defendants — five OPP officers and the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services — denied all allegations of assault, battery, false arrest and excessive use of force made by the plaintiffs in a statement of defence leading up to the trial, which began in February 2022.
In the written reasons for his decision, Superior Court Justice Edward Gareau found that Daniel was, to a large extent, the “author of his own misfortune,” when he was tasered twice after repeatedly ignoring commands of officers and engaging in “active resistance and assaultive behaviour,” with police on the day of the incident.
On the day of June 11, 2014, a northbound red pickup truck belonging to Tree Men & A Chainsaw pulled into oncoming traffic on Highway 17 North and began to pass, forcing a grey SUV to take evasive action to avoid a collision.
A truck that was being passed by the pickup, and a second truck following it, also had to take evasive action, the OPP reported at the time.
All of the involved vehicles proceeded to pull into a parking lot at the intersection of Highway 17 and Highway 556. An altercation ensued, resulting in two vehicles colliding and a fight breaking out. Police were called to the scene.
According to court documents, Harrison told his father that “he’d better get here quick before I hammer someone.”
The business owner and his daughter travelled to the scene of the altercation after calling the OPP, despite being told by police to avoid the scene altogether.
Harrison was eventually placed under arrest after the other driver involved in the altercation accused him of assault. His father and sister arrived minutes later.
“At the time of their arrival, arrests had been made, individuals had been taken into custody, and the situation was under control,” according to court documents. “Daniel Knox exited the driver’s side of the truck, and Sherry Cole exited the passenger side of the truck.
“Then all hell broke loose.”
The court heard that Daniel opened the door of the cruiser that his son was detained in and ignored commands from a pair of officers to get on the ground. Instead, he walked away, shoving OPP Const. Keith Nicolle and continuing to walk towards his vehicle prior to being tasered.
A portion of the interaction — showing the Sault businessman being tasered — was captured on video and has since become widely publicized.
In his testimony, Daniel claimed that he was kicked 15 to 20 times by officers after being tasered, and that his daughter was slammed into the hood of his company truck and choked with a sweater by an OPP officer. Those claims were dismissed.
Gareau also dismissed a claim by Harrison that he suffered a torn ligament in his wrist as a result of being handcuffed by OPP Const. Mario Posteraro while being arrested for assault.
The Superior Court Justice also found that OPP Const. Peter Van Den Diepstraten had “reasonable and probable grounds” to arrest Cole after she pushed Posteraro off her father while he was applying the taser to him.
In the reasons for his decision, Gareau found a number of discrepancies, erroneous statements and conflicting accounts from both the Knox family and OPP officers with respect to what actually happened that day.
Gareau also noted that an eyewitness acknowledged that she “probably” helped fuel the physical altercation between the drivers of the two vehicles when she boxed one of them in with the intention of obtaining the licence plate number and giving it to police.
“Given the court’s finding that the arrest of all three plaintiffs was lawful and the use of force by the police was both lawful and justified, it is not necessary for the court to comment on whether the charges laid against the plaintiffs were resolved in their favour,” wrote Gareau in his decision.
"The arrest of the plaintiffs was lawful and, therefore, any claim for malicious prosecution cannot succeed.”
The Ontario Superior Court Justice encouraged all parties to reach an agreement on costs incurred in the civil matter by Dec. 31.
- with files from Linda Richardson