Warning: This article contains descriptions that may be disturbing and triggering to readers. A Muskoka man violently arrested four years ago in MacTier, when he was punched, kicked, tasered, and dragged by his legs while handcuffed, wants two former OPP officers held accountable for their actions with a private prosecution. The charges, initiated by the complainant with lawyers Mandi Parsons and Kerry Evans, were given the go-ahead in a Bracebridge courtroom earlier this month, alleging the police officers lied in their notes about what happened that night. Former provincial constable Scott Anthony, 53, who pleaded guilty last year to assault causing bodily harm and was sentenced to 18 months of house arrest and curfew, is now charged with obstruction of justice and fabrication of evidence. Anthony’s colleague, Ethan Meyer, who arrived on scene several minutes later, is accused of obstruction and fabricating evidence along with assault, assault with a weapon, and assault causing bodily harm. Anthony was charged by the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) four months after the incident, when the shocking surveillance video was provided to the police watchdog weeks later. Meyer, now 30, was never charged. He left the OPP in the midst of the SIU’s investigation while still in probationary status with the provincial police service. He later joined the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service (NAPS) in Northern Ontario. The private prosecution alleges both Anthony and Meyer lied in their police notes about what happened during the violent arrest. The complainant claims the officers’ version of events were contradicted by the surveillance video. After being loaded into the police cruiser, the man was taken to hospital and charged by police. Those charges were subsequently dropped by the Crown. Anthony, a 27-year OPP veteran officer resigned from the police service last summer after pleaded guilty to assaulting the man. Anthony admitted to striking him with fists and kicks, repeatedly using his taser to subdue him. The former officer escaped actual jail time with the conditional sentence. During his hearing in Bracebridge, Anthony said he struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder at the time of the call and was mentally unfit to serve as a police officer. Anthony, according to court records, reported he and the complainant had been “fighting for a bit.” Anthony admitted the use of his taser was contrary to training along with dragging the man to his cruiser. He said he was given incorrect information about the identity of the man he was about to encounter at the rail yard that night and feared for his safety. The video showed Meyer used his taser on the man before grabbing one of his legs alongside Anthony. Meyer, the court heard, assisted Anthony in dragging the shirtless man on the ground while his hands were cuffed behind his back. The complainant suffered nine broken ribs, a punctured and deflated lung and injuries to his arms, legs, and head during the arrest. He also had visible boot marks to his side. During Anthony’s sentencing hearing, the complainant told the court the assault left him with debilitating injuries, lingering concussion symptoms, depression, and nightmares that continue to haunt him. He said he struggles with depression a nd post-traumatic stress. He described being fearful of police since that night. In June, the Ministry of the Attorney General failed to prevent the SIU’s lead investigator from testifying about what happened and why certain decisions were made about criminal charges laid against Anthony but not Meyer. The complainant’s lawyers also sought to call SIU director Joseph Di Martino to testify but the request was denied by Justice Marcella Henschel. The accused are expected to make their first appearance in a Bracebridge courtroom in September. The latest allegations have not been tested in court.
