2 Kamloops RCMP face assault charges

TwoRCMP officers in Kamloops, B.C., face assault charges stemming from separate incidents early this year.

Const. Kevin Royhas beensuspended with pay over charges he used excessive force during the separate arrests of two people in January.

Const. Ryan Sheremetta has been assigned to desk duties after a fellow officer complained about an off-duty altercation in which Sheremetta is alleged to have punched a man outside a bar in March.

The charges werelaid Thursday and made public Friday.

Sheremetta is the officer who shot and killed a Vanderhoof, B.C., man during a confrontation in December 2004.

He was never charged and the RCMP complaint commissioner ruled Sheremetta acted in self-defence when he confronted Kevin St. Arnaud, a robbery suspect.

On top of the assault charges in court, both Mounties will face internal RCMP disciplinary hearings, Insp. Yves Lacasse said.

Sheremetta has been with the RCMP for seven years and Roy has been an offficerfor nine months.

Both are expected to make their first court appearances on July 29.

Lacassesaid he expects more public criticism of the force in the wake of these latest charges.

Public confidence in the RCMP has been challengedin recent yearsby several high-profile incidents. The video of four officers confronting Robert Dziekanski before he died at Vancouver's airport in 2007 was seen by millions of people around the world.

More recently, five officersin B.C. have been accused of impaired driving in incidents going back to September.