CITYNEWS
File photo of a Toronto Police cruiser.
Matt Brewer, 39, pleaded guilty to both charges in front of Justice Peter West.
Court heard that Brewer was off-duty and driving with his girlfriend Ashleigh Mann as passenger when the collision occurred at 4 p.m. on Sunday May 5, 2019 at the Taunton Rd. plaza by the Farm Boy store.
Brewer’s vehicle ended up halfway on top of a median.
Observers detected a “strong smell of alcohol” and said that he was glassy-eyed, unsteady on his feet, slurring his words and struggling to keep his balance, court heard.
He informed paramedics he was a Toronto cop and was arrested for impaired driving.
Soon after, his behaviour changed from co-operative to argumentative and belligerent, court heard.
When Brewer was taken to the hospital, he became uncooperative with hospital staff and screamed in isolation at a patient who appeared to be suffering from a mental health condition, court heard.
His blood alcohol readings measured 290 milligrams of alcohol per 100 ml of blood — which is more than triple the legal limit of 80, court heard.
Brewer will be sentenced on Nov. 21.
This isn’t Brewer’s first problems with drinking and aberrant conduct.
Brewer was found guilty last year of discreditable conduct stemming from a 2016 incident in Durham Region in which he brought a handgun into a bedroom where his spouse was sleeping and then followed her through the home holding the weapon.
According to a summary of facts submitted at that tribunal hearing, Brewer put the gun in his mouth before going outside and firing it multiple times into the air.
The tribunal heard Brewer was suffering from depression, alcoholism and post-traumatic stress disorder.
He was docked five days pay last November.
Brewer was already facing Police Act offences for several allegations, including pepper-spraying a handcuffed prisoner in 2016 in the back of his cruiser in a case which Justice Richard Blouin called “obvious police brutality.”
The incident was captured on the squad car’s video system.
According to the Police Act allegations, Brewer also uttered “profane, abusive or insulting language” at a senior officer, and yelled “abusive, threatening” words at a woman inside a Whitby gym before hurling her belongings against a wall.
Brewer allegedly accused the senior cop of having sex with his wife.
Brewer underwent rehab for substance abuse which ended in July, reports his lawyer David Butt — who said he responded positively to treatment.
He added his client is still undergoing therapy to help deal with substance abuse disorder and PTSD.
Source: Toronto Sun