A former Barrie police officer who was involved in a violent arrest that was captured on video nearly two years ago has pled guilty to assault, days after resigning from the force.
Jason Stamp entered the plea in a Barrie courtroom on Monday in connection with the Feb. 4, 2021 incident on Dunlop Street.
Video of that incident, which was posted to social media at the time, showed an officer hitting a man on the head with what appeared to be a Taser as he pinned him to the ground and threatened to "light [him] up.”
The man was eventually taken into custody and charged with causing a disturbance and assault in an attempt to resist arrest.
But after the video surfaced then-Barrie Police Chief Kimberley Greenwood asked that the Ontario Provincial Police conduct an independent investigation into the arrest, which ultimately led to the charges against Stamp.
The Crown and the defence both submitted an agreed statement of facts as part of Stamp’s plea deal.
The court heard that Stamp witnessed a man named Skyler Kent skateboarding through the Dunlop Street intersection and decided to pull him over and issue him a ticket.
Following that Kent directed several expletives towards Stamp, the court was told.
The skateboarder initially continued on his way after receiving the ticket. But when Stamp attempted to pull him over a second time he did not stop, leading to the altercation.
“I tried to keep going because I figured he can't pull me over twice in a row like that,” Kent told CTV News Barrie in 2021.
In her decision, the judge in the case called Stamp’s behaviour “appalling and abhorrent,” adding that it represented a "gross breach of his duty as a police officer and that duty is to protect the community."
She ultimately sentenced him to a six-month conditional sentence, including three months of house arrest.
The end of the criminal case comes after Stamp formally resigned from the Barrie Police Service on Friday.
“Our officers are held to the highest standards of professionalism and conduct in carrying out their duties. We share the community's concern when any police officer is involved in a situation that negatively impacts the public trust and thank everyone for their patience as this case made its way through the justice system,” Barrie Police Chief Rich Johnston said in a news release at the time.
With files from CTV News Barrie.
