A disciplinary hearing for Const. Mike Wasylyshen is underway Monday. It's been eight years after the controversial incident where the constable is accused of Tasering a young man in the back of a police cruiser.
Wasylyshen is accused of two counts of unlawful exercise of authority and three counts of insubordination.
The charges stem back to October 2002 when a then 16-year-old Randy Fryingpan was found in a vehicle drunk and passed out.
Neighbours called police thinking the vehicle was about to be stolen. An agreed statement of facts showed a Taser was deployed eight times in 68 seconds.
"Next thing I remembered is being handcuffed and spitting out my tooth and it was bloody," said Fryingpan.
Fryingpan said he sustained a number of injuries in the incident including a head injury, several burns from the Taser and a lost tooth.
During opening arguments, Wasylyshen's lawyer Robert Hladun, told the court, "For the first time we will hear the full story rather than piece meal parts pasted together."
During Hladun's cross-examination of Fryingpan, Hladun consistently questioned the 25-year-old on his memory in an attempt to point out inconsistencies with the man's testimony.
"Do you recall punching his hand? Do you recall telling him to F-- off, F-- you? Do you recall the police officer pulling you back holding you by the jacket to prevent you from running away?"
To which Fryingpan answered "no."
The hearing continues Tuesday.
The constable was originally cleared of wrong-doing by an internal review but that was over-turned by the Law Enforcement Review Board. Fryingpan is also part of a $150,000-lawsuit that names Wasylyshen as one of the defendants.
With files from Serena Mah
