Severely injured motorcyclist files lawsuit

WINNIPEG — A motorcyclist who claims an RCMP officer deliberately struck him with his police SUV without warning near Dauphin has filed a lawsuit, alleging the officer then assaulted him further and prevented him from getting medical care for more than an hour.

Cpl. Kevin Challoner has been criminally charged with assault causing bodily harm and dangerous driving, as well as a Highway Traffic Act offence, in the Aug. 29, 2023 incident on Highway 5.

The criminal charges against Challoner followed a probe by Manitoba’s Independent Investigation Unit.

RCMP told the IIU that Daniel Leclair, 61, was driving the motorcycle dangerously and they had tried to stop him several times before a “use-of-force” incident during his arrest.

Leclair filed the lawsuit in Court of King’s Bench against Challoner, the RCMP and five unnamed officers earlier this month.

The court papers accuse the RCMP officers of assault and trying to cause Leclair to die by “intentionally failing to promptly summon emergency services personnel.”

Leclair was charged after the collision with dangerous driving, flight from police, failing to comply with a breath demand, resisting police, carrying a concealed weapon and drug possession for the purpose of trafficking.

RCMP told the IIU Challoner was trying to stop Leclair from driving dangerously, alleging he was speeding and narrowly missed getting into several collisions. The oversight agency was told officers had tried to get Leclair to stop several times before he was eventually boxed in by several RCMP vehicles and arrested.

The IIU said Leclair suffered three broken ribs during the arrest and that a police dog was used to restrain and control him.

The lawsuit paints a much different picture of the collision, making no mention of a prolonged pursuit or prior attempted stops by RCMP.

Leclair claims he was driving west on Highway 5 in the early afternoon on a trip to Grenfell, Sask., when he realized he made a wrong turn and made a U-turn.

The court papers say Leclair then noticed a marked RCMP vehicle in the lane he had just turned into, but it did not have its lights or sirens on.

As he drove forward, Leclair saw a black pickup truck backing up in front of him as if it was about to turn around, the court filing says.

He slowed down, but a black SUV on the road to his rear, also without its lights or siren on, “deliberately collided with the rear of the plaintiff’s motorcycle at a high rate of speed,” sending him flying several metres, during which his ribs were broken, the lawsuit alleges.

Challoner, who had been driving the black SUV, then repeatedly kneed Leclair in the back and punched him in the face, before setting a police dog on him for several minutes when his right forearm was repeatedly bitten, it says.

Leclair claims he repeatedly asked at the scene for an ambulance, but officers deliberately failed to call for medical help for over an hour and put his “life in peril.”

As Leclair drifted in and out of consciousness, he saw two additional groups of RCMP officers at the scene, he claims. The second group that arrived called for an ambulance, the lawsuit says.

Leclair claims he lost consciousness, but woke up as an ambulance arrived, but before any paramedics got out, an RCMP officer commented to others, “don’t worry about it, he’s dead.”

The third group of RCMP officers was then impeded by members of the first group as they tried to help Leclair to the ambulance, the court papers claim.

It wasn’t until one of the medics, who was on a video call with “a local person in authority,” turned his phone to the impeding officers and told them to move away from Leclair that they let up, the lawsuit claims.

He was then taken to hospital in Dauphin and was evacuated to Winnipeg, where he remained in hospital for three days. He claims he was in such bad shape that a doctor in Dauphin told him he was lucky to be alive.

Leclair alleges he has suffered lasting physical pain and mental anguish. He’s seeking extensive damages to be determined by the court and costs for medical care.

The allegations in the civil claim have yet to be heard in court.

Neither the RCMP nor the officer have filed statements of defence and the matter hasn’t been heard in court.

Leclair’s lawyer in the civil case, Phillip Cramer, declined comment Monday.

Challoner is next due in Dauphin court on his charges Nov. 5, while Leclair’s next court appearance is in January, also in Dauphin.

» Winnipeg Free Press