A retired judge has cleared Nelson Police Officer Sgt. Nathanial Holt of misconduct for his role in a June 2021 traffic stop that left a senior resident with serious injuries.
Ron Bendle launched a lawsuit against Sgt. Holt, Cst. Lisa Schmidtke, the Nelson Police Department, and the City of Nelson in May 2023, claiming he was the victim of misconduct during a routinetraffic stop on June 10, 2021.
Sgt. Scott Hyde of the Vancouver Police Department was assigned by the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner (OPCC) to investigate Bendle’s claims in June 2022.
Hyde’s review led him to believe that there were reasonable grounds to substantiate Bendle’s claim, but Nelson Police Chief Constable Donovan Fisher concluded the opposite.
The disagreement led to the OPCC appointing retired Judge Brian M. Neal to review the case and make a final ruling, which was just made public this month.
Neal determined that Holt had reasonable grounds to perceive a threat to the life of another officer, and that a degree of force was necessary to restrain Bendle, but that the force used was objectively unreasonable.
“I have found that the Member [Holt] had reasonable grounds to believe some degree of force was necessary to restrain and safeguard the Complainant [Bendle] during the arrest that took place. However, there was never any weapon posing a threat as the Member approached the Complainant.
No efforts were taken by the Member to de-escalate matters even though the Member was well aware of the claims of a PTSD event. Furthermore, there was no apparent urgency to display a pistol either for officer safety or to reinforce officer presence, nor to use the same in striking the Complainant.”
Neal’s report also revealed details of the incident for the first time since it happened, with the names of Bendle and officers Holt and Schmidtke redacted.
He described the altercation as an “unfortunate immediate violent escalation of events” that left Bendle “seriously injured as a result of the arrest process.”
However, he said Holt’s motivations were focused on protecting his colleague and that the force used to arrest Bendle did not permit “serious blameworthy conduct” and dismissed the case, clearing Holt of misconduct.
A copy of Neal’s findings and conclusion can be found here.
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