Montreal man seeking answers after almost 1 year since alleged police beating in Laval

Montrealer Andrew Denis-Lynch is still waiting for answers from Laval police nearly a year after he was allegedly beaten by officers during a nighttime traffic stop in Sept. 2024.

He said that his motorcycle was rammed by a police car on Laval’s Highway 440, sending him flying about 10 feet through the air before hitting the pavement face-first. According to Denis-Lynch, officers ordered him to the ground and then began kicking and kneeing him in the face.

“I was getting beaten with my helmet on still — thank goodness,” he said.

Denis-Lynch added that Laval police pointed a gun at him before putting him in handcuffs.

“My wrists were like purple,” Denis-Lynch said. “It was so tight I couldn’t feel anything.”

One officer drew a knife to slice the backpack off Denis-Lynch’s shoulders in order to conduct a search. His motorcycle was also damaged beyond repair, with the cost of repairs being estimated at over $18,000.

Two other police officers arrived on scene after the arrest and drove Denis-Lynch to a nearby McDonald’s where he was instructed to have a friend call him a taxi home.

That night after returning home, Denis-Lynch said the pain was so severe that he called an ambulance. Tests from Montreal’s Sacré-Cœur Hospital showed no broken bones or fractures, but he said he had visible injuries across much of his body.

“The pain was so overwhelming, I couldn’t sleep,” he said. “Every time I tried to move there was pain somewhere.”

Police also issued Denis-Lynch with eight tickets totaling to over $3,000, including a $1,100 charge for speeding.

One of the tickets he received was for allegedly riding without lights, a charge Denis-Lynch said shouldn’t be possible since his motorcycle’s lights are hardwired to turn on automatically with the ignition and can’t be turned off.

“They were really just looking for anything at this point,” he said.

Denis-Lynch said he has since met with internal affairs investigators from Laval Police. But over half a year later, he said that he has gotten to word from officials, calling it a lack of transparency and accountability on behalf of police.

The Centre for Research Action on Race Relations (CRAAR) has been supporting Denis-Lynch since the incident took place last year.

Executive Director Fo Niemi said they initially held off on further action, hoping the police internal affairs investigation would lead to consequences, given what he described as the use of “excessive force.” But with no clear outcome close to a year later, the CRAAR is now preparing to veer outside the internal process and file a formal complaint with Quebec’s Police Ethics Commissioner and the Quebec Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission.

“We were expecting possible the criminal charge could have been filed against the first two police officers for assaulting him,” Niemi said.

However, complaints to the ethics commissioner must be filed within a year after any given incident. Now 10 months in, Niemi said they’re filing the case in what he called “a race against the clock,” as the deadline quickly approaches.

A statement was issued to CityNews Thursday by Sgt. Laurent Arsenault of the Laval police public affairs squad.

“The Laval Police Department confirms that a criminal investigation started following the intervention that took place on September 7, 2024,” it wrote. “Once the investigation was completed, the file was submitted to the DPCP and the officer in question is currently suspended from duty. A disciplinary investigation in this matter is still ongoing. We reiterate that integrity and respect are at the heart of our Service’s values and guide our daily actions and our ongoing commitment to the Laval community.”

To this day, Denis-Lynch says he still doesn’t know why he was stopped and believes racial profiling may have played a role. By filing a complaint, he hopes to shed light on what happened and help prevent others from going through similar experiences.

“It could just be the colour of my skin,” he said. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”