A member of the Lethbridge Regional Police Service faces two charges in connection to a December 2012 incident in which an alleged intoxicated teenager had his teeth chipped while being placed in a police cruiser.
On the evening of December 29, 2012, the constable responded to a hit and run complaint on Ashgrove Rd. in Lethbridge. Unrelated to the hit and run incident, the officer located and arrested a 16-year-old male for public intoxication. While attempting to place the teen in the back of the squad car, a struggle ensued and the teenager’s head struck the vehicle, chipping two of his teeth.
In February of 2013, the teen filed a formal complaint in connection to the officer’s actions in the December arrest.
The Lethbridge Chief of Police ordered an internal investigation into the incident which resulted in the officer being charged.
33-year-old Cst. Norman Smith, a four-year veteran of the force, faces one count of assault causing bodily harm and one count of unlawful confinement.
Smith has been relieved of his duty, with pay, while the LRPS awaits the result of the court’s decision. Cst. Smith is scheduled to appear in court in September.
In 2011, Cst. Smith was the victim of a vicious assault during a traffic stop when two men attacked the officer. Smith was hospitalized after suffering a fractured skull, bleeding of the brain, a broken nose, a broken cheek bone, and lacerations to his head in the attack.
