British Columbia

Terrace Mountie charged with assault in connection to violent arrest

A Mountie has been charged with assault in connection with the arrest of a young person in Terrace, B.C., almost two years ago.

Arrest came under investigation after video evidence surfaced in the local paper

A Terrace RCMP officer has been charged with assault after a violent arrest was caught on tape and given to a local newspaper. (Terrace Standard Newspaper )

Const. Bruce Lofroth has been charged with assault in connection with the arrest of a young person in Terrace, B.C., almost two years ago. 

The May 2014 arrest was captured in a video that appears to show an officer punching a young man in the head as he lies handcuffed on the ground.

RCMP were initially called to deal with a fight between a young man and woman.

An unidentified woman dropped the video off at the Terrace Standard newspaper, according to the publisher.

The Independent Investigations Office, a civilian-led agency tasked with conducting criminal investigations into serious police incidents, says it began looking into Lofroth's actions after the video surfaced.

Lofroth was placed on administrative desk duty while the IIO completed its investigation. The Criminal Justice Branch says an assault charge was sworn against Lofroth on Thursday.

He is set to appear in a Terrace court room, March 7.