Edmonton man speaks out as 2 officers charged with assault: ‘I didn’t resist. I didn’t fight’

An Edmonton man says he’s spent the past year looking over his shoulder, scared of the police after he says he was assaulted by two officers while walking to the bus in southeast Edmonton.

Now, two Edmonton Police Service officers have been charged with assault in connection with the October 2023 incident.

“I’m tired of living in fear,” Max Bird said. “Since this happened, I’ve moved to different addresses and I’m scared… every time I see (police) I cringe.”

Bird was walking towards to a bus stop on 51st Avenue, near 66th Street, just after midnight on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023.

He said he saw what looked to be a collision scene. Woods said he has training as a first responder and was concerned: “I thought I was doing good.”

He said he jumped over a fence on the side of Whitemud Drive and approached two vehicles but there was no one around, so he abandoned the good samaritan quest and went back over the fence to resume heading to the bus.

That’s when Bird says a police cruiser showed up and two officers approached him.

“As a first responder, you have to identify yourself and what you’re doing,” Bird said, “But they didn’t even give me the chance. They instructed me over the fence. I waited for them like this,” he said on Friday, putting his arms up in the air.

“I was standing there already in this position. They saw my hands. I followed their instructions. I didn’t argue. I didn’t resist.”

Surveillance video from the Edmonton Police Service Air 1 helicopter corroborates Bird’s claims.

Bird says he was instructed to come over the fence, so he threw his backpack over first, then climbed over.

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“As soon as I got to the other side of the fence, I was on my knees. I had my hands up still. And then they just went ahead and tased me.”

The video shows a police officer raise their arms, which Bird says is when he was hit with a stun gun.

“They said they were coming to talk to me. They didn’t talk. They didn’t even give me the chance to talk. They took one look at me and… tased me.

“I did as they instructed. I didn’t resist. I didn’t fight. I didn’t argue.”

Bird says he lost control of his body from the jolt of electricity from the device, and rolled down the embankment on the side of Whitemud Drive.

“I was incapacitated,” Bird said.

After that, the video shows officers began to hit the man.

“My one arm was behind my back. He was sitting on my back and they were punching me. They were punching me and hitting me,” Bird said.

The Edmonton man was stunned and said he became scared for his life: “Like what the…? How? Just…. How is this happening?”

“There was two of them on top of me, punching me continually. And they kept saying, ‘quit resisting, quit resisting.’ They were screaming at me to quit resisting… I wasn’t resisting. I couldn’t resist.”

Mathew Farrell is a Calgary-based lawyer representing Bird. He was stunned by what happened to his client.

“I really don’t know what he could have done to prevent this attack,” Farrell said on Friday. “He was clearly cooperative. You don’t climb over a fence towards the police officers if you’re being uncooperative.

“It seemed like a really clear-cut case of there being no justification for this assault.”

Farrell said the instinct to curl up into a ball to protect one’s vital organs is hard to ignore when being beaten.

“That’s not a fair thing to say that he was resisting. Anybody in that situation, if they’re being punched, is going to curl up, is going to try and protect themselves even if they’re trying to comply with an officer’s directions.”

EMS also showed up during the arrest, which is when Bird said he was loaded into an ambulance.

He says he was first taken to the nearby Grey Nuns Hospital, but then moved to the Misericordia in the west end. All the while handcuffed and accompanied by the officers. Bird’s arm was injured from being twisted behind his back and says it still has not healed.

“This was serious and this isn’t a case of just somebody getting roughed up. This man was injured and he is injured now — he still hasn’t fully recovered the use of his arm,” Farrell said.

“This was not trivial and it is not acceptable for something like this to happen.”

The EPS said its professional standards branch received an external complaint regarding the officers on Oct. 17, 2023, and a formal investigation was launched.

The case was referred to Alberta Crown Prosecution Services in Calgary in April of this year.

On August 27, prosecutors recommended both EPS members be charged.

“It’s certainly a good thing that they’re taking this seriously enough to recognize that, in this case, charges ought to be brought,” Farrell said.

“This guy did absolutely nothing wrong.”

Bird, who sought and obtained the surveillance video of the incident (see video player above), said he was nervous to share his story but also felt it was important for people to know what happened.

“I’m totally relieved that the general public is going to be more aware of this,” Bird said.

“If somebody doesn’t say anything or do anything about it, it’s going to continue to happen.”

On Friday, criminal charges were laid against two Edmonton Police Service officers.

Const. David Castillo, a 10-year member of the EPS, was charged with assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm.

Const. Ali Hamzeh, a three-year member of the EPS, was charged with assault causing bodily harm.

Both officers are currently employed in non-patrol and non-supervisory positions, Edmonton police said on Friday.

A third officer was involved in the arrest but has not been charged.

The EPS said its professional standards branch will commence an investigation under the police service regulation following the resolution of the criminal prosecution.

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