The prosecution in a trial of a former Saskatoon police officer charged with assault wrapped its case Tuesday.
It comes on the second day of the trial of 32-year-old Jarett Gelowitz. He has been charged with assault stemming from a takedown of a suspect after a high-speed chase in December 2016.
On Monday, a packed courtroom watched dramatic video from a police dashcam showing the police chase and the arrest of two suspects in December 2016.
Court heard Monday the pursuit started on Clarence Avenue and Eighth Street when a patrol car spotted a stolen car and began a pursuit east on Eighth Street – before the car raced onto Circle Drive at speeds up to 160 kilometres per hour.
Several spike belts were laid before one managed to disable the car which came to a stop on a residential street in the Exhibition neighbourhood.
The video shows several officers yelling for the two people in the stolen car to get their hands up before using their batons to smash windows and wrestle the driver out of the car.
The struggle lasted for 30 seconds before 18-year-old Keller Bear was taken to the ground and handcuffed.
Gelowitz was charged with assault following an investigation by the Saskatoon Police Service’s professional standards section. He was fired in August of last year following two additional assault charges. One charge was dropped while the other is being treated as a separate matter.
Bear, who said he served two years for the chase, told court he was not resisting arrest. Three other officers involved in the chase testified Bear was being uncooperative.
