Assault charges dropped against Ont. man Tasered while having epileptic seizure

Assault charges laid on a Hamilton, Ont. man after he was Tasered by police while having an epileptic seizure back in 2022 have been dropped.

In October 2022, Marcus Charles was working at the Canadian Tire at Main Street and Victoria Avenue when he had a seizure. His colleagues, expecting paramedics, called 9-1-1. Instead, police arrived, attempted to restrain Charles, and then Tasered him. After the struggle, police laid three assault charges on the then-19-year-old.

• Download our app to get local alerts on your device
• Get the latest local updates right to your inbox

“We were clear from day one: this case was not in the public interest to prosecute – it was a medical emergency, not a legal issue,” Charles’ lawyer, Chris Rudnicki, told CTV News Toronto Tuesday. “It just took 15 months for the Crown to come to the same conclusion.”

Video footage of the incident was captured by a Canadian Tire colleague and obtained by CTV News Toronto. In it, Charles is seen lying on the sidewalk. His body appears to be convulsing as officers surround him and hold him down as he repeatedly shrieks.

“I cry every single time I watch the video,” Charles said in an interview with CTV News back in 2022.

Marcus Charles Is pictured on the ground Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022 outside the Canadian Tire store where he works in Hamilton in this image made from video. (Submitted)

Later, after waking up at a local hospital, Charles said he found out he was Tasered by police and had to have barbed darts removed from his body.

“That was the scariest call for help in my life,” he said at the time of the incident.

Marcus Charles can be seen above.

More than a year later, Rudnicki said he has no insight into why police Tasered his client.

"I cannot fathom why a subject of a medical call, when his back was turned, was Tasered, causing him to fall to the ground only to have police pile on him," Rudnicki said. "This is a kid with no record."

When reached for comment, an HPS spokesperson confirmed that the Crown had withdrawn the charges and told CTV News Toronto that the service respects its decision.

“Our officers are called to respond to dynamic and rapidly evolving situations every day,” the spokesperson said. “While this was an unfortunate incident, the Crown acknowledged our officers responded lawfully and reasonably to the situation.”

Situations like Charles’ aren’t uncommon for people with epilepsy, Trevor Gordon, with the Canadian Epilepsy Alliance, told CTV News Toronto. A lack of education and awareness can put them at greater risk when interacting with police, he said.

“Generally, when someone has a seizure, the last thing you do is obstruct or hold them in any way,” Gordon told CTV News Tuesday. “If the police had done nothing at all, it would have been 100 per cent better.”

As someone who works closely in the epilepsy community, he says those experiencing seizures can become physical, but that they are often not in control of their actions.

“Marcus did not mean to attack a police officer in any way – there have been so many times where I have been accidentally kicked or hit while trying to help someone having a seizure – but we never fight back,” he said.

Gordon believes the incident highlights a need for better training within police services – training he and Rudnicki say the service already has access to.

“Currently, there is an elective 40-minute seizure first aid training course that police officers can choose to take,” Gordon said. “But did you pay attention in your high school electives?”

In response to Charles’ charges, Gordon and the Epilepsy Alliance started a petition to change the existing police training from elective to mandatory. At the time of publication, it had garnered just over 4,000 signatures.

“We believe that this course should be mandatory for all officers,” he said.

With files from CTV News Toronto's Hannah Alberga