G20 police officer guilty of misconduct over bandana arrest

A police officer who arrested a man wearing a bandana around his neck at the tumultuous G20 summit in Toronto three years ago has been found guilty of misconduct the first such finding arising out of that weekend.

A police services tribunal convicted Const. Vincent Wong of unlawfully arresting Jay Wall for being disguised with intent to commit an offence.

The charge had alleged Wong, who was on patrol with his co-accused, Const. Blair Begbie, had arrested Wall illegally.

In convicting the officer, adjudicator Walter Gonet, a retired judge, found "clear and convincing" evidence that Wong had no reasonable grounds to arrest Wall on Sunday June 27, 2010.

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Gonet said the circumstances of Wall's arrest "offend common sense."

Begbie, who faced the same accusation, was acquitted.

Wall settled a lawsuit against the police in 2011.

Gonet has previously acquitted another officer also accused of an unlawful arrest, while charges against a fourth officer were withdrawn during a hearing.

Misconduct charges were laid against more than 30 officers related to the weekend summit in which vandals went on a rampage and police made one of the largest mass arrests more than 1,000 people in Canadian history.

Earlier this month, another Toronto police officer Const. Babak Andalib-Goortani was handed a 45-day sentence for a criminal conviction of assaulting a protester during the summit.

Andalib-Goortani was found guilty of assault with a weapon for using excessive force during the arrest of protester Adam Nobody on June 26, 2010, on the lawn of the Ontario legislature.

The officer, who is on bail while he appeals, was suspended without pay pending the outcome.