Vancouver officer testifies Myles Gray had superhuman strength before 2015 death in custody

A Vancouver officer told a misconduct hearing that Myles Gray was the strongest man he had ever encountered. Gray died during an arrest attempt on Aug. 13, 2015.

Vancouver officer: Gray "completely immune to pain" in moments before his death

A Vancouver police constable testified at a misconduct hearing that Myles Gray was the strongest person he had ever physically encountered, telling adjudicators that Gray threw him off his back while handcuffed in the final moments before Gray lost consciousness.

Vancouver Sun Crime reports that Const. Beau Spencer, one of seven officers facing allegations under the B.C. Police Act, gave testimony before retired Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Arnold-Bailey, who is serving as adjudicator for the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner.

Spencer had responded to a call on Aug. 13, 2015, arriving at the backyard of a property near the Burnaby boundary to provide cover for five fellow officers who were already struggling to take Gray into custody. Gray had allegedly sprayed a resident with a garden hose and was actively resisting arrest when Spencer arrived.

"He was overwhelmingly built, I would say almost like someone in a bodybuilder magazine," Spencer told the hearing. Gray was wearing shorts and no shirt, and Spencer — who described himself as a "decent-sized guy" — said he had never seen a physique like it outside of a publication.

Spencer testified that he attempted to pin Gray's forearm behind his back so a second officer could apply handcuffs, but was unable to maintain his grip because Gray was sweating heavily and his arm was slippery. Gray's muscles were fully flexed, his face was flushed, and he was making loud sounds Spencer described as "animalistic" — no discernible words, just noise — while thrashing his head side to side.

Spencer said he suspected Gray was experiencing "excited delirium," a term used by police to describe a state sometimes associated with drug consumption, involving apparent superhuman strength and constituting a medical emergency. He also considered that Gray might simply be on drugs, or both.

Gray was lying on his stomach with one arm pinned beneath him. Spencer said he worried Gray might be able to reach into his waistband for a weapon, or push himself upright using that arm. When Spencer seized his wrist, he found he could not manipulate the arm at all.

"It was the first time I wasn't able to use my strength to my advantage to be able to manipulate his arm into a position I'd be able to cuff him," he said.

Spencer testified that this was both surprising and worrying, and that it prompted him to escalate force in line with police procedure. He struck Gray with a closed fist "as hard as I could" on the deltoid of the opposite arm while kneeling near Gray's hip. He said such a strike would normally cause a detainee to briefly lose muscle control. With Gray, it had no effect.

"He appeared to be completely immune to pain," Spencer testified. He also attempted to apply pressure between Gray's forearms to gain pain compliance, without success.

The struggle lasted, Spencer said, somewhere between a few seconds and a couple of minutes. Eventually he and another officer managed to cuff Gray's wrists and restrain his ankles. Gray's breathing was irregular at that point, and they placed him on his side in the recovery position. His muscles relaxed, the thrashing stopped, and the second officer — a former paramedic — began attending to him. Gray's breathing steadied and he appeared conscious.

Spencer said Gray then looked up at him as though waking from shock and said, "What's going on?" He appeared to have calmed.

Seconds later, Gray began thrashing again and bucked Spencer off his back. Spencer said he landed on his back on the ground.

"He was manhandling me with a handcuffed arm," Spencer told the hearing. "There are no words to describe how I felt in that moment, just being a bigger guy and being thrown off like that."

Gray then went limp. Spencer and the other officer placed him in the recovery position a second time. The handcuffs were removed once Spencer believed Gray had lost consciousness. Spencer said Gray's face was bright red and turning blue as he stepped away from the scene and moved toward the front of the house. He learned shortly afterward that Gray had died.

Arnold-Bailey is now weighing the full body of evidence — including witness testimony from the hearing — before ruling on whether the misconduct allegations against the seven officers involved have been substantiated under the B.C. Police Act.

Source: Vancouver Sun Crime