Locked up in the Toronto (Don) Jail over the Thanksgiving weekend — in prison for the first time in his life — Tyrone Sparks could not wrap his head around how an afternoon at his cousin’s baby shower had ended with his arrest and a three-night stay in custody.

“I was in shock, I was in disbelief, that I was sitting there, 31 years old, in jail — and I’d never been arrested before,” said Sparks, now 33.

“I didn’t think that this was my life.”

Sparks, then a tech support employee at a downtown law firm, says he spent the 2012 Thanksgiving long weekend in custody after getting caught up in a police raid of his cousin’s Carleton Ave. apartment, where he was attending a baby shower.

He alleges he was beaten up by Toronto police officers, arrested without being told why, slapped with two drug-related charges for items found in the apartment — charges summarily dropped a month later, without explanation.

Still reeling from an arrest he says shattered his sense of security and justice, Sparks, alongside members of his family and his former girlfriend, last week filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the Toronto Police Services Board, Chief Bill Blair and nine officers involved in the raid.

The suit claims false arrest, negligence, assault, intentional infliction of mental anguish, malicious prosecution and multiple breaches of Sparks’ Charter rights.

The allegations have not been tested in court, and a statement of defence has not been filed.

“We have not completed our statement of defence, so I can’t comment,” police spokesman Mark Pugash said in a statement. “However, it’s important to note that it is not at all unusual for lawsuit claims to fail in court. Unfortunately, the Toronto Star provides a platform for unproved claims, but rarely, if ever, lets its readers know when the claims it prints are judged to be baseless.”

Among the allegations contained in the statement of claim are that officers failed to consider that an innocent person could be in the apartment during the execution of a search warrant; failed to recognize that Sparks was not their target; and arrested and charged him with serious criminal offences even though they were told he did not live there.

The incident occurred on Oct. 6, 2012, when Sparks was attending a baby shower for his cousin’s son, Sparks’ godson. After briefly socializing with other shower attendees in the building’s party room, Sparks returned to his cousin’s apartment to watch some football. Partygoers came in and out, but eventually, Sparks was alone in the room.

According to the claim, Sparks suddenly heard shouting, saw the beam of flashlights, then guns pointed at him. He was ordered to put his hands up, then told to lie on the ground and put his hands behind his back so he could be handcuffed, the claim states.

As officers entered the apartment, Sparks repeatedly asked what was going on, and indicated several times that he didn’t live in the apartment. As the officers moved around the home, they continually refused to tell him what they were doing, the claim states.

According to the claim, Sparks did not resist officers at any point, but they accused him of failing to co-operate because he did not tell them whose room he was in or the names of the children who lived there.

At one point he was searched, states the claim, and an officer found a small amount of marijuana in his jacket. He also found Sparks’ driver’s licence, with his address.

The claim also alleges the officers abused him, including that Sparks’ head was hit against the ground and kicked.

Sparks was taken outside and “not provided with the reason for his arrest or his rights,” the claim states. He was held overnight at 51 Division and strip-searched, according to the claim.

He was charged with possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, possession of the proceeds of crime — related to items found in the apartment — and possession of marijuana, for the small amount Sparks had in his jacket.

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For nearly 24 hours he was in custody, Sparks alleges, he was not allowed to contact his family or girlfriend; he only spoke briefly with Legal Aid, he said.

When he arrived at the Old City Hall courts on Oct. 7, after a night in jail, he asked “anybody that will listen,” if they could contact his family. “I said, ‘Could you let them know that I’m here? Call my mother, call my girlfriend?’” Sparks said in an interview.

Sparks was held because the seriousness of the charges required that he obtain a lawyer. He was transferred to the jail, where he spent two nights, until a bail hearing on Oct. 9.

While in jail, Sparks was able to make a phone call and contacted his girlfriend. On Oct. 9, be was released on bail. Six weeks later, all the charges were dropped, with no discussion in court.

“Directing the clerk to withdraw these charges …” said Crown Anjie Tarek-Kaminker on Nov. 26, 2012.

“OK, withdrawn at the request of the Crown,” responded Justice of the Peace Sisay Woldemichael.

Sparks’ cousin was not arrested during the raid. He was later charged with a drug trafficking offence and possession of property obtained by crime, but both charges were dropped.

After his arrest, Sparks took some time off work. When he came back, his “head wasn’t in it,” he says, and he was eventually let go. He is currently unemployed.

His mother, Susan Sparks, said that in the months after the arrest, the family hardly saw him. He became short with her, and he has “not been the same person” since the arrest.

Sparks and his family hope the lawsuit will help bring some closure.

“I am hoping for something that acknowledges that this happened,” said Sparks, “and that this shouldn’t have happened.”

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