Red Deer Mountie charged with assaulting suspect in detachment cells

A Red Deer Mountie has been charged with assault for allegedly striking a suspect inside a holding celllast spring.

Cpl. Kent McDiarmidis scheduled to appearin Red Deer provincial court on March 24, RCMP said in a news release Wednesday.

The chargestems from an altercation inside the Red Deerdetachment cells on March 2, 2020.

RCMP said McDiarmid struck a man who had been arrested for public intoxication and resisting arrest.

The suspect was taken to hospital as a precaution and was later remanded into custody for a parole violation.

The investigation into McDiarmid's actions began later that month with an incident review. It was followed by code of conduct and criminal investigations.

McDiarmid, 39, has been suspended with pay since July2020, RCMP said.

He has been a member of the RCMP for nearly 15 years.

Following the incident review in July, a secondary internal review was launchedalong with a criminal investigation.

RCMP saythe Alberta Director of Law Enforcementwas immediatelynotifiedin March, but it was determined that the allegations fell outside the investigative scope of the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team.

RCMP internal investigations fall under the RCMP Act. Findings are not made public unless the member is ultimatelydismissed from the job.