An Auckland man who was wrongly detained, strip-searched and badly injured by police during an unlawful arrest more than two-and-a-half years ago has shared footage of his ordeal.
Traffic camera video of the arrest was released to Daniel Bond by police late last year, around the time he filed charges against nine of the officers involved in the incident.
The footage provides a clearer picture of the events of the night of May 2, 2019, showing how a couple of quiet drinks with a friend descended into chaos and how police got things so badly wrong.
The incident kicked off when a sergeant saw Bond outside a vehicle in a slip lane in Browns Bay, on Auckland's North Shore, "drinking from a can and appearing to stumble" and believed him to be an intoxicated driver.
The sergeant asked Bond if he was the driver of the vehicle and demanded he provide his details, which he incorrectly believed he was entitled to do under the Land Transport Act. Bond refused.
At this point, their stories diverge. Bond says he started filming what was happening on his phone, prompting the officer to snatch the device from his hands, while police say Bond turned to grab the keys from a vehicle and struck the officer on the arm in the process.
When this happened, the officer tried to arrest Bond.
"I jumped back then he lunged at me, got me into like a bear-hug sort of choke," Bond says.
"I just managed to slip out of there and run around the car. He pulled out his pepper spray and was on his radio, and within a minute the cars and a paddy wagon just came flying in."
Traffic camera footage doesn't show his first encounter with the sergeant, but does show Bond backing away from police onto the road before another melee erupts when backup officers arrive.
The video shows the situation quickly devolving as Bond is swarmed by three officers and pinned against a police car, then dragged to the ground as more officers arrive at the scene.
He is later placed in the back of a police van.
At no stage of the arrest was he told to get an alcohol breath test, nor was he read his rights. The officers used excessive force in getting him to the ground, and his phone was damaged in the melee.
Bond says officers roughed him up to such an extent that night he was left with a concussion and a neck compression fracture, which required hospital care.
After Bond's arrest, officers equipped with torches can be seen searching two vehicles without a warrant, and his dogs were impounded - neither of which should ever have happened, an Independent Police Conduct Association (IPCA) investigation later found.
After being taken from the scene, Bond was transported to a police station where he was forcibly placed in a tear-resistant gown and strip-searched, despite his protestations. Again, investigations found this to be unnecessary.
He was released on bail and subsequently charged with obstructing and assaulting police, however a decision was later made to withdraw the charges.
Bond's 30 months of frustration
Bond filed 23 charges in the North Shore District Court against nine different officers last October. The charges are now before a judge for consideration.
Among them is one of assault with a weapon for the officer's use of pepper spray, and five of injuring with intent for the injuries he sustained during his arrest.
Bond has also filed four charges of making an intimate visual recording, as it's alleged police stripped him naked in a room where a CCTV camera was present; and nine of kidnapping, in relation to his unlawful detainment.
The charges come after 30 months of frustration for Bond. Despite the police admitting officers got it wrong that night, he has felt let down by their inaction and is still searching for answers.
An investigation into the incident by police conceded the officers involved made multiple errors, and they apologised to Bond for his experience. However a follow-up investigation by watchdog the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) found multiple deficiencies in the police investigation.
The IPCA disagreed with the police's findings on the force used to arrest Bond, the damage caused to his cellphone and the warrantless search of two vehicles following his arrest.
"There is no allowance under the Crimes Act for force to be used except to execute a lawful arrest... We think that, as the arrest was deemed unlawful, any subsequent use of force by Police was not only unlawful but also unjustified," IPCA Chair Judge Colin Doherty wrote.
"You were being unlawfully detained and were therefore entitled to resist by pulling away and struggling to get free from police. It was not reasonable for police to respond to this reasonable resistance with force."
The IPCA also found the police should have proactively offered Bond compensation for his damaged cellphone, and should have considered whether the officers were "criminally responsible" for the force they used.
The IPCA raised these issues with police, but the police told them they didn't agree. As the agency has no power to require police to alter their investigation or the outcomes reached, nothing changed.
In a statement in October 2021, police told Newshub its employment investigation was "thorough" and the incident had been addressed adequately with staff. A criminal investigation was never launched as the police's professional conduct team didn't deem it necessary.
They said at the time, they believed the arrest to be lawful and therefore were acting in good faith. However they acknowledge that an incorrect decision was made to place the man in a tear resistant gown when he arrived at the custody unit and therefore the use of force was not justified.
Victim Support was also never offered to Bond because he "was not considered a victim under the Victim's Rights Act 2002".
