A Toronto Police Service (TPS) officer who was found guilty of assault following a 2021 incident involving a Brampton teenager who later died, won’t spend time in jail.
Const. Calvin Au, who was off-duty at the time of the incident, was handed a sentence of 12 months probation on Wednesday.
Au initially pleaded not guilty to charges including assault causing bodily harm and manslaughter, but was found guilty of a lesser charge of assault back in November 2024.
Au accompanied colleague, TPS Const. Gurmakh Benning, on April 26, 2021 to purchase an Apple watch that was advertised for sale on Kijiji.
Chadd Facey, 19, was the seller.
Au testified that he tagged along to ensure the watch was authentic.
He said that after Benning had given Facey $400, he inspected the watch and determined it was fake, and that’s when Facey fled the scene.
Au described that they were in a vehicle chasing the teen through the Brampton neighbourhood before reaching a ravine, where Au said he began a foot pursuit. Au claimed that Benning eventually caught up with Facey. Feeling exhausted from the chase and fearing that Facey would not surrender, Au said he took the teen down and tackled him.
Facey’s health worsened following the incident. One of the teenager’s friends testified that Facey was “panting and out of breath” and was later hospitalized.
He died the same night from a brain bleed.
Au testified that as he was leaving, he looked back and saw that Facey was getting up and that Benning had called 911. Neither officer filed a report.
Prosecutors argued that Au used excessive force when apprehending the teen and that there were other ways to approach the situation. Au disagreed, claiming he used a reasonable amount of force and not a “football tackle” to subdue Facey, adding he did not notice if the teen’s head or face hit the ground in the process.
The Toronto police officer also argued that while he was off-duty, he planned on arresting Facey in an effort to retrieve Benning’s money for the watch.
