TORONTO

A veteran Toronto cop is accused of punching out an allegedly drunk and belligerent man during an arrest at a convenience store over the Christmas holidays.

And it’s not the first time the 33 Division officer has been accused of losing his temper.

Toronto Police say the latest incident, investigated by Professional Standards, occurred around 5 a.m. on Dec. 29 when the officer and his partner responded to a call involving an allegedly intoxicated man at a variety store.

“The man had allegedly been drinking and was acting unruly in the store,” Mark Pugash said Tuesday. “It’s alleged he went to the back of the store to use the bathroom and the door was locked, so he urinated on the floor and into a bucket.”

Pugash said a store employee tried to escort the man outside and was allegedly “punched in the head,” so he called police.

The two officers arrived and took the man into custody.

“He was yelling and spitting at them,” Pugash alleged. “And after he was put in the back of the cruiser he began kicking at the door and window.”

He said one of the officers opened the door to tell the man to “calm down” and narrowly escaped being spit on.

“The second officer then tried to do the same and the man spit in his face,” Pugash said.

That officer allegedly “punched the man several times” in response.

The allegedly drunken man, Christopher Milani, 20, was arrested that day on three counts of assault and one count of mischief under, Pugash said.

Professional Standards was subsequently called in to investigate the officer’s actions and Const. Gary Gould, 32, was charged with one count of assault on Jan. 15.

Pugash said the accused officer, who has been a cop for 11 years, is suspended with pay while he awaits his Feb. 28 court appearance at 2201 Finch Ave. W.

Gould faced a similar charge three years ago when he was accused of losing his cool while off-duty, but he was ultimately cleared of any wrongdoing.

In that incident he allegedly assaulted a man outside a restaurant near York Mills Rd. and Upjohn Rds., just west of Don Mills Rd.

A source says the Crown later dropped the assault charge and Gould was found not guilty of Police Services Act offences.