A paraplegic man was pulled from his wheelchair by Peel police, dragged to a cruiser and charged with causing a disturbance because he had urged them to help a stabbing victim, a court heard Friday.
"It was very violent," recalled Stephen Miller, who witnessed the chaotic scene from just a few metres away as he tended to the victim by applying pressure to the stab wound.

Moments later, Miller said, he too was yanked away from the victim, an old high school friend, pulled into a cruiser and charged with the same offence.

Ontario Court Justice Peter Wilkie was told that on July 29, 2005, at about 6 p.m., police were called to a large building complex on Glen Erin Dr. in Mississauga after reports of a stabbing.

Miller, a 20-year-old political science student at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, said he had just finished work and stopped by the complex to see some friends. He was standing outside when he heard someone yell and saw his friend, Germaine Holder, collapse onto a bench.

"I immediately ran over and saw something red dripping, gushing, actually, and saw there was a wound to his abdomen," Miller recounted to his lawyer, Jason Bogle. "I took off my T-shirt and applied pressure."

As Miller pushed down on the wound, he called 911, recalling how he felt scared but tried to remain calm for his friend. But he said his fear intensified when he spotted the first officer on the scene, Const. Jason Sandilands.

Miller testified he and others from the complex, including Holder, have long had a "negative" relationship with Sandilands, who he said routinely harassed them by asking for identification for no apparent reason. Miller said he had even lodged a complaint against the officer but it didn't go anywhere.

As his friend lay bleeding beneath him, Miller said he called over to Sandilands to come and help, but the officer was just "standing there, doing absolutely nothing."

Moments later, Garrett Mannings, 24, who is paralyzed from the waist down, joined the small group of people forming near the victim.

Mannings, along with some of the other building residents, yelled at Sandilands to do something, but the officer simply replied, "Oh well, if he dies, he dies," Miller testified.

"Sandilands took a step behind Mannings, took his shoulders and threw him to the floor," Miller said, calling it an "aggressive" move. The two men struggled on the floor just metres from where Miller was with Holder.

Moments later a second officer arrived to help Sandilands. They "dragged" Mannings to a cruiser and returned to collect his wheelchair, said Miller, who watched the events unfold as he continued to be the only one tending to Holder, who lay bleeding.

Suddenly, Miller said, he "felt someone very strong grab my arm that was on the wound and pull my legs." Seconds later, he said, he was carted off to a cruiser by a third officer.

He said he sat in the car and watched Holder continue to bleed. No one else touched him until the paramedics arrived on the scene about two minutes later, he said.

Court has already heard testimony from the arresting officers. Sandilands testified he gently tipped over Mannings' wheelchair because the accused was swearing and flailing his arms.

Another officer testified Miller was arrested because he was yelling in the officer's face.

Crown attorney Darilynn Allison has finished her case, but the defence might call Mannings to the stand.

If found guilty of causing a disturbance, Mannings and Miller could face up to six months in jail.

The trial is scheduled to resume Monday at the courthouse in Brampton.

Two Mississauga men, including one who is paralyzed from the waist down, have been found not guilty of causing a disturbance.
The pair were charged in connection with a stabbing incident wherein a Peel Police officer is alleged to have pulled the disabled man from his wheelchair.

In acquitting Stephen Miller, 20, and his wheelchair-bound friend Garrett Mannings, 24, Justice Peter Wilkie yesterday emphasized that Peel Constable Jason Sandilands and other involved officers weren't on trial.

Defence lawyer Jason Bogle said the actions of the officers on July 29, 2005 would likely be dealt with civilly at a later date.

The two men were accused of causing a disturbance after they berated and shouted at Sandilands for failing to help their friend, who was bleeding profusely from a stab wound to his abdomen.

Sandilands testified during the three-day trial that he "tipped" Mannings during a verbal confrontation and later arrested him. Miller was also arrested when he accused the officer of not attending to their injured friend, one of two men who were stabbed that day at the Britannia-Glen Co-Op complex on Glen Erin Dr.

On the stand, Miller, who was using his shirt to try to staunch his friend's bleeding, accused the officer of saying "Oh well, if he dies, he dies."

Outside the Brampton courtroom, Miller said he was "extremely relieved" the case was over.

"I'm still scared and I hope this never happens to anybody else," the Wilfrid Laurier University student said. "This outcome has restored my faith in the justice system."

Mannings, who remains in custody on an unrelated firearms charge, didn't take the stand but a civilian witness, called by the defence, yesterday gave an emotional description of what she saw that day.

Daria Mercer, a former corrections officer at Metro West, testified that Mannings became angry when Sandilands initially put his hand on his shoulder and told him to move away from tending to his injured friend.

"Don't touch me," she said Mannings told Sandilands. After that, the officer yelled something like "I've had enough of this nonsense," according to Mercer.

At that point, she said Sandilands "grabbed Mannings by the back of his collar" and pulled him back from his wheelchair and his "head hit the concrete."

"Then he kicked his wheelchair out of his reach," she said, fighting back tears from the witness box.

She said he then dragged Mannings across the parking lot and into a police cruiser.

"I shouted please stop," said Mercer, who has lived in the co-op since 1993. "We have a higher priority here. Where is your humanity?."