ANTHONY AUST: Family sues Ottawa police board over 2020 death after 'no-knock' raid
The statement alleges police violated Anthony Aust's Charter right to life and to be secure against unreasonable search and seizure.
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The family of Anthony Aust is suing the Ottawa Police Services Board, alleging police officers’ “dynamic entry” of the family’s Gloucester high-rise apartment in 2020 caused his death and violated Aust’s and his family’s Charter rights.
The statement of claim was filed on Oct. 6, one day before the second anniversary of the raid after which Aust died by falling from his 12th-storey bedroom window. It claims police were negligent when they stormed the family’s Jasmine Crescent apartment with a “no knock” raid that used a flash-bang grenade to first stun the occupants inside.
Police suspected the 23-year-old Aust had a gun in the apartment and expected to find a black 9-mm handgun, as well as fentanyl and cocaine for sale. Officers found drugs, but no gun. According to the statement of claim, Aust was sleeping at the time of the raid. He was wearing a court-ordered monitoring bracelet on his ankle that provided his location to authorities.
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit cleared police of any wrongdoing in the death.
The statement of claim argues police “knew or ought to have known that using a dynamic entry could cause Anthony Aust to attempt to flee through the window,” that Aust suffered from anxiety that could impair his judgment, and that police “did not take reasonable precaution” to prevent him from fleeing through the window such as having police stationed outside below the apartment.”
The claims have not been proven in court. The suit seeks $2.35 million in general damages and $720,000 in special damages. Lawyer Yavar Hameed is representing the family.
Also in the apartment that morning were Aust’s step-father, Bernard Poirier, his 13-year-old sister, 12-year-old brother, 90-year-old grandmother, and a sixth person. The court filing claims it was just before 9 a.m. when police used a battering ram to break through the apartment’s unlocked door, with eight heavily armed tactical officers rushing in and holding the family at gunpoint while one officer covered the apartment security camera with a cloth.
Poirier was on the balcony at the time and was arrested and handcuffed with plastic ties and forced to lie on his stomach on the living room floor, according to the statement of claim, while Aust’s siblings were also detained and questioned. Poirier was released after about 20 minutes. None of the three were told why they were being detained or given a right to counsel, the document alleges.
All of the family members have suffered since Aust’s death, the claim states. His mother, Nhora, “lives continuously with anxiety, depression, guilt and devastation” and has been “unable to function properly in everyday life.”
His sister has twice attempted suicide since the raid and has suffered academically, it alleges, while his brother has “experienced extreme emotional distress” and has also suffered academically.
Poirier continues to suffer pain in his shoulders after his arrest, while Aust’s father, Raymond, has also suffered “extreme emotional distress, including a nervous breakdown,” the claim states.
The statement alleges police violated Anthony Aust’s Charter right to life and to be secure against unreasonable search and seizure. Other family members’ Charter rights were violated in how they were detained and questioned, the statement argues.
Ottawa police temporarily suspended dynamic entry raids after Aust’s death. The tactic has also been discontinued by various American police forces.
