Two Edmonton police officer charged for assault after attacking wrong person during arrest

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An Edmonton man says he was in the wrong place at the wrong time last year when he was fatally injured by Edmonton police officers.

Max Bird says he was walking to a bus stop near 66 Street and Whitemud Drive on October 14, 2023, when he encountered two cars on the side of the road.

“One vehicle had its lights on. One didn’t. One had all the windows blown out, and it looked like it had flipped over. I honestly thought it was an accident. I thought I was helping,” he said.

According to Bird, there was no one in the vehicles, and he waited until two police officers arrived.

“The police came to me and drew their weapons,” he said.

“They ordered me to climb over the fence. I did as they said. I didn’t protest.

“I thought I could explain myself, but they didn’t even give me the chance.”

He says he was on his knees on the ground when police tackled him with a Taser.

“I was completely out of it. I couldn’t do anything,” he recalled.

“I rolled over. I was on my stomach, and then they both lay on my back and kept hitting me on the head.”

According to Bird, a third officer arrived on the scene at that point.

“He came over and just grabbed my arm, and he wouldn’t stop. I was screaming, I was begging, but no,” Bird said.

Bird was taken to the hospital with multiple injuries. He says he suffered a broken arm, a dislocated forearm, torn muscles, and cuts and bruises.

He says the officers escorted him to the hospital.

“I asked for a glass of water. The man grabs my arm and cuffs me to the bed. It was bad enough what they did, but then another 17 hours in the hospital.”

“They said I was unruly and loud. How can I have a sensible conversation with someone who just broke my arm?”

The incident on the road was captured on video by EPS Air 1.

As the video begins, someone says, “There’s a guy who jumped the fence, and he’s just going to… it looks like a black car. We’re going to talk to him.”

At 1:26 in the video, two officers are seen exiting a vehicle, appearing to point guns or tasers as they walk toward a single figure with their hands up.

The person says, “He’s putting his hands up. It looks like members are ordering him to jump the fence.”

The person climbs over the fence, kneels and falls to the ground as the person says, “It appears a CW (conductive energy weapon, or Taser) has been deployed.”

The officers appear to begin beating the figure on the ground, who is moving around, and the voiceover says, “It looks like he’s resisting. Officers have him on the ground.”

A still image from video captured by the Edmonton Police Service Air 1 helicopter shows an incident involving officers and Max Bird. (Photo: Matthew Farrell)

Another vehicle arrives on the scene, a third officer steps out and joins the other officers.

Someone can briefly be heard saying, “Ow! Ow!”

Bird says he knew the incident was on video so he filed a complaint with the EPS Professional Standards Branch on October 17.

“They treated me less than human. It’s just disgusting.”

“I was originally charged with obstruction of justice, but that was immediately dropped. But only after I went to the district attorney, got the video and showed it to them.”

On Friday, EPS reported that two officers had been charged in connection with the case.

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

Const. Ali Hamzeh, who had been a member of the EPS for three years, was charged with assault causing bodily harm.

According to EPS, both officers are currently working in positions that do not involve patrol or surveillance.

They indicated that no further comment would be made as the matter is still before the courts.

According to Bird, the officer who broke his arm was not one of the officers charged.

“The two who started it are the only ones being prosecuted. The one who damaged my arm got away with it,” he said.

“He went in there and broke my arm. He dislocated it. He showed no remorse, he didn’t even say sorry.”

Bird believes his Indigenous heritage played a role in the way he was treated by officers.

“I really believe that,” he said.

“They didn’t come to talk. They just reacted. They had their weapons drawn.”

Bird’s attorney said the charges are a good first step.

“I think it’s an acknowledgement that something happened,” Matthew Farrell told CTV News Edmonton on Saturday.

“But more needs to be done because this is not an isolated incident. This is not a case of a few bad apples. This is a systemic problem that is affecting not just the Edmonton Police Service, but a number of police forces across Canada.”

Farrell says they plan to file a complaint with the Human Rights Commission.