B.C. Mountie suspended after kicking incident

A Kelowna, B.C.,RCMP officerwho was caught on videokicking a suspect in the face has been suspended with pay.

Const. Geoff Mantler had already been limited toadministrative duties after he was accused of using excessive force during the arrest of a man in Kelowna on Friday.

The incident happened late last week after police received a call about shots fired near the Harvest Golf Club.

Police apprehended the suspected shooter, Buddy Tavares, on a Kelowna street.

A freelance reporter who observed the arrest began video-recording events as police converged on Tavares, guns drawn.

Tavares, 51, is seen getting out of his truck and, on police orders, falling to his hands and knees.

Next, the RCMP officerkicked Tavares in the face.

Moments later, the video shows the handcuffed Tavares lying on the ground in a pool of blood.

Tavares is said to be recovering from a brain injury suffered in a motorcycle accident last year.

He works at the Harvest Golf Club but was on disability leave at the time of his arrest. Its his job to scare birds away from the coursewith his shotgun, and he has a permit to fire the gun for that purpose, police said.

Tavares has been charged with careless use of a firearm. Police said the charge is connected with a domestic violence situation. Tavares has no criminal record.

Tavares's sister, Angela Behiels, said Tavares spent the weekend in RCMP holding cells by his own choice.

He left thejail Monday night and said he had not seen the video of the incidentthat led to his facial injuries and Mantler's suspension.

"I did see the front of the newspapers, a couple of newspaper pictures,"said Tavares. "That was quite nasty."

Tavareshad a blackened lefteye and some facial cuts.

He did not respond when asked why he was shooting at the golf club on Friday. A woman with him said that was part of the investigation and he could not comment.

Although he had a permit to scare off geese with the weapon, the golf club is under snow and no one was playing the course.

Tavares's presence at theclub was reported to police by an employee.

A criminal investigation of Mantler's actions and an internal RCMP code of conduct inquiry also are underway

Mantlerjoined the Kelowna detachment in July 2007 immediately after graduating from the force's training academy.