Former Langley Mountie fined $2,500 for second assault on prisoner

Former RCMP officer Damian Volk was fined $2,500 after being convicted of assaulting a prisoner who was being booked into the Langley detachment. It was his second sentence following convictions for two separate assaults in separate trials. Justice Terence Schultes sentenced him on Wednesday, Oct. 14, in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster.

Volk was convicted last year of assaulting Jason Petrus, who was arrested in the early morning hours of July 1, 2020, for public intoxication. Volk, then a staff sergeant, took over from the arresting officer when Petrus arrived at the detachment and marched him to a cell. Schultes described the assault in his verdict as “a thorough thrashing.” Petrus was thrown to the floor, his arms were bent behind his back, and he was stripped. As Volk left the cell, he kicked Petrus in the head backwards with the heel of his boot. There was no evidence Petrus suffered significant injuries.

Volk left the RCMP after his two convictions. At sentencing, Crown prosecutors sought a three-month prison term. His defence lawyers asked for a conditional discharge and 18 to 24 months of probation, which would have allowed him to avoid a criminal record. However, the conviction in his other trial means he will have one.

In that similar case, Volk was also found guilty of assaulting a prisoner being booked into the Langley RCMP detachment’s cells. Justice John Gibb-Carsley sentenced him to 45 days of conditional imprisonment, to be served in the community, at a hearing in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster on Oct. 2. Volk will have to observe a curfew at home but will not have to go to prison.