Ontario’s police watchdog is investigating after a man died in Barrie police custody last week. He was Tasered several times during his arrest.
Barrie police say the arrest happened around 2:30 p.m. Friday. They say the man went into "medical distress" when he was taken to the Barrie Police station for processing. He later died at Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre.
Family has identified him as 32-year-old Orlando Brown, father to an 11-year-old girl.
A witness captured video of the arrest and posted it on social media. The video shows the officers struggle with Brown while trying to arrest him, the sound of a Taser heard throughout.
An officer is heard shouting “stop resisting” and “put your hands behind your back” while the suspect is forced to the ground.
Lance Freeman recorded the video. He told CTV News Barrie that he watched the arrest unfold.
“They asked him to see his ID and before he even had a chance to pull his ID out, the one guy just kicked him and the other started chasing him,” Freeman said.
He said he started filming when he saw one of the officers kick Brown “right in the temple.”
“Everybody was telling the cops to stop, that they were using force,” he said. “How do you expect someone to sit still when you’re Tasering him?”
“I don’t know what he did before or his past or what they were looking for,” Freeman added. “He was doing nothing wrong.”
The Special Investigations Unit says there was an outstanding warrant for Brown.
The Barrie Police Association tweeted about the incident, calling it "tragic”, but also defending the actions of the officers.
“We stand behind our members 100%,” the tweet reads.
Brown’s aunt, Barbara South, said her nephew was a generous and loving person who has “never been aggressive.”
“Yes he goes off the track a little bit … nobody’s perfect, but he doesn’t have a mean bone in his body,” she said.
"They de-escalate and they find ways to get to calm a situation without any violence when the person is white. But when you’re black, your life has no value,” she said.
“My nephew was murdered … There’s no doubt about that.”
The mother of the victim’s 11-year-old child also spoke with CTV News Barrie.
“She’s left without her dad,” Donna Dubois said over the phone phone. “How do I explain this to her? How is she going to think that police officers are safe when this is what they did to her dad?”
Warning: video includes disturbing content