A civil case involving Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. family members who allege they were wrongfully arrested and assaulted by police has been dismissed.

The incident happened in 2014.

Daniel Knox, his son Harrison Knox and daughter Sherry Cole put forward the suit against the Ontario Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, and Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officers Const. Luigi Bruni, Const. Mario Posteraro, Const. Peter Van Den Diepstraten, Const. Keith Nicole and Sgt. Ken Spahr.

Daniel Knox operates a company called Tree Men & A Chainsaw. At the time of the incident, his son, Harrison and daughter Sherry also were employed by the business.

On June 11, 2014, OPP were called after a traffic complaint involving a vehicle owned by Daniel Knox’s company. Two company vehicles were been taken to a company job. Around 12:30 p.m. on Highway 17 in Aweres Township, north of Sault Ste. Marie, police were contacted after one company vehicle was seen passing “in a manner that was unsafe, veering into oncoming traffic.”

Court documents state a vehicle had to move off the road to avoid a collision. Two separate vehicles pulled into a nearby gas station parking lot, and blocked the company vehicle until police arrived.

‘Get here quick’

Documents say Harrison Knox phoned his father Daniel and said that “he’d better get here quick before I hammer someone.”

Both Daniel Knox and Sherry Cole phoned the OPP. The dispatcher told Sherry that “Daniel Knox should pull his vehicle over and not attend at the scene.”

The documents say both Daniel Knox and Sherry Cole “ignored this direction” from police and went to the scene. Daniel Knox testified that his intention was “to take care of business” and this his “crew and family needed help.”

Officer Keith Nicolle of the OPP was the first to arrive at the scene. He was followed by officer Mario Posteraro. Both officers spoke with people on site to take statements.

Harrison Knox testified has was told he was under arrest for dangerous driving, to which he responded he wasn’t the driver. He said he was then told he was under arrest for assault. He said officers placed handcuffs on him that were “really tight and high on his wrist,” and that he was “anxious and distraught.”

The documents state Harrison Knox was placed in the rear of a police cruiser and minutes later, Daniel Knox and Sherry Cole arrived. The two got out of the vehicle and “then all hell broke loose.”

‘Pretty angry and upset’

Daniel Knox approached the police car where his son Harrison was inside and opened the door. Const. Nicolle told him to get away from the cruiser. Daniel Knox testified that he approached Nicolle and was told to get to the ground and that he was under arrest. He said at that point, he saw officer Posteraro had his taser out. From there, Posteraro used his taser twice.

Sherry Cole testified that after her father was tasered she did push Posteraro as “it was just instinct to help him.” She also said when her father was taken to a police cruiser, an officer was kicking him in the back of the legs. She admitted to being “pretty angry and upset.”

She said she was told she was being arrested and that she was thrown onto the hood of a vehicle with Const. Peter Van Den Diepstraten’s “knee and forearms on her back and twisting her shirt, causing her to choke.” She was taken to the OPP detachment and was released on a promise to appear on a charge of obstructing a police officer.

Van Den Diepstraten testified that “at no point did he strike Sherry Cole or kick her.”

‘Author of his own misfortune’

In his written decision, Ontario Superior Court Justice J. Gareau said “neither the evidence of Daniel Knox nor the evidence of Const. Keith Nicolle is perfect.”  “There are problems with the evidence of both of them.”

“I found the evidence of Daniel Knox to be exaggerated, embellished and self-serving,” he wrote.

“His evidence that he was kicked by officer Bruni ’15 to 20 times’ in the back of the his leg is hard to believe. Even his daughter, Sherry Cole, describes two to three kicks to the back of her father’s leg, not the 15 to 20 times as described by Daniel Knox. Mr. Knox is left with no bruises or injuries to the back of his leg or medical treatment sought despite his assertion that he was kicked 15 to 20 times in the back of the leg.”

Gareau added that “it is not unfair to say that a large extent, Daniel Knox is the author of his own misfortune.”

“He was told to stay away from the scene by the OPP dispatcher, but he ignored this suggestion,” he said.

“Immediately upon arriving at the scene, he opens the police cruiser door. He ignores the commands of police to get on the ground. He pushes Ooficer Nicolle. He heads towards his vehicle. He continued to ignore the commands of the police officers and was engaged in active resistance and assaultive behaviour. This necessitated the use of the taser to control the behaviour of Daniel Knox and to place him under arrest.”

Gareau dismissed all of the plaintiffs’ claims in their entirety.