Nearly four years after Sammy Yatim was shot eight times on an empty streetcar, Ontario’s police watchdog has ordered that a misconduct charge be laid against the veteran Toronto police sergeant who Tasered the 18-year-old as he lay dying, the Star has learned.

Sgt. Dusan Dan Pravica — who within 33 seconds of the shooting climbed aboard the streetcar and Tasered Yatim — used “unnecessary force,” “failed to assess the totality of the circumstances,” and “acted in haste,” according to an investigation by the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD), completed earlier this month.

The investigation was launched after a complaint by Nabil Yatim, Sammy Yatim’s father, to the watchdog in October, 2013. Pravica called the complaint “frivolous and vexatious” while testifying at the 2015 criminal trial of fellow officer, Const. James Forcillo.

Currently appealing his attempted murder conviction in Yatim’s death, Forcillo, too, faces a new misconduct charge under the Police Services Act, stemming from a separate OIPRD complaint filed by Nabil Yatim. The police watchdog found sufficient evidence that Forcillo used unlawful and unnecessary force against Yatim to merit a disciplinary hearing.

“There is a sense of justice,” Nabil Yatim said in a written statement to the Star on Friday. “It was so disturbing that a police officer would Taser someone who was down and shot fatally eight times. It would be hard to believe that this action would not be professional misconduct.”

No hearing date has been set in either case. Because of a six-month limitation on complaints at police disciplinary hearings, Toronto police will have to obtain permission from the Toronto police board to proceed with both charges.

Peter Brauti, the Toronto lawyer representing both officers, said Pravica will be pleading not guilty. Brauti said he expects the Forcillo matter will be adjourned to October pending the outcome of the criminal appeal.

The penalty for a conviction of police misconduct ranges from a reprimand to dismissal.

Meaghan Gray, spokesperson for the Toronto Police, said she could not comment on any misconduct cases that are before the tribunal.

Yatim was killed on July 27, 2013 in a now infamous shooting that prompted widespread outrage about police use of force in Toronto and beyond. The case resulted in an unprecedented murder trial against Forcillo, who was among the officers responding to a call about Yatim exposing himself on the streetcar and wielding a small knife.

Forcillo shot at Yatim, who was by then alone on the streetcar, in two distinct volleys separated by six seconds. He fired three times then, as Yatim lay on the floor of the streetcar, six more times, striking him a total of eight times.

The officer was found guilty of attempted murder in connection to the second set of shots, and sentenced to six years in jail. He is out on bail pending his appeal of his conviction and sentence.

The shooting, captured on citizen-shot video and widely disseminated in the days following Yatim’s death, prompted outrage — not only because of the shooting, but the Tasering by Pravica as Yatim lay on the floor of the Dundas streetcar.

According to the OIPRD investigation, Pravica, a 21-year police veteran, arrived on scene approximately 20 seconds after the final shot was fired by Forcillo. He had been summoned to the scene by a radio call for a sergeant with a Taser to deal with a man with a knife on a streetcar.

Called as a witness during Forcillo’s trial, Pravica testified that he could hear officers yelling “drop the knife” and he noted they had their guns drawn. He said he never heard any shots fired, but was advised within seconds of his arrival that Yatim had been shot, though he did not know how many times.

Because Yatim was still clutching his knife, Pravica testified that he felt Yatim posed a threat. On the stand at the Forcillo trial — during which he wrongly referred to Yatim as “the accused” — Pravica said he didn’t know if Yatim was “playing possum” and perceived that he was trying to get up off of the streetcar floor.

“He could potentially be getting ready to slash my throat or come across the abdomen. I’m pointing the Taser at him and he’s not going to drop the knife for me,” Pravica testified.

Video footage of Yatim in the seconds before Pravica Tasered him does not show Yatim rocking back and forth, as the officer testified. It shows minimal movement by Yatim.

The OIPRD alleges that Pravica’s deployment of the Taser at the time “was not a reasonable use of force option in these particular circumstances.”

“There was no immediacy in Tasering as no one was in immediate danger nor was the safety of anyone immediately at risk,” according to the OIPRD investigation, which states Pravica made no attempt to de-escalate the situation and entered the streetcar with the “sole purpose of deploying the (Taser).”

Nabil Yatim’s separate complaint to the OIPRD about Forcillo resulted in a professional misconduct charge against the officer for “unlawful and unnecessary force” in connection to second volley of shots.

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“The threat level was significantly reduced from the first series of shots and there was no indication that (Yatim) was attempting to get up off the floor of the streetcar. Other methods of containing (Yatim) should have been employed,” the OIPRD said.

Forcillo, who is suspended without pay from the Toronto police, is already facing acharge under the Police Services Act. The charge is automatically laid against an Ontario police officer when he or she is convicted of a crime.

Nabil Yatim also made other complaints to the OIPRD, four concerning the management of the crime scene and allegations of scene tampering. Among his allegations were that officers failed to properly secure the scene immediately after the shooting, including that Pravica and another officer, Const. Brian Dawn, improperly re-entered the streetcar sometime after Yatim was taken away by ambulance.

The OIPRD concluded all allegations related to crime scene management to be unsubstantiated.

Pravica told investigators he re-entered the streetcar to ensure the knife was still inside, knowing it was his duty to account for all of the evidence connected with the incident. Dawn was then detailed to guard the knife, Pravica said.

Ed Upenieks, Nabil Yatim’s lawyer, takes issue with the fact that no civilian witnesses were interviewed on the crime scene management issue, saying many bystanders were around following the shooting and would have observed officer behaviour.

“It was mostly a repetition of statements that had been made to the SIU,” he said of the review.

Upenieks also expressed concern about the watchdog’s years-long delay in investigating his client’s complaints. The OIPRD has previously said the delay was caused by Forcillo’s criminal trial.

Pravica is currently working as a sergeant at downtown Toronto's 14 division. According to Ontario’s Sunshine List of public sector salaries, released Friday, Pravica made $157,267 in 2016.

Yatim’s death inspired reviews police use-of-force, including an independent review by former Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci, commissioned by Toronto police.

On Friday, the OIPRD released its interim report on police interactions with people in crisis, launched after Yatim’s death. The watchdog announced that, in the coming weeks, it will be auditing police services involved in the deaths that prompted coroner’s inquests to evaluate “the extent to which recommendations have been adopted and implemented by these police services.”

Upenieks said Yatim’s death must continue to be used as a means to reform and improve police interactions.

“How can we make it better, how can we make sure that someone pauses, reflects, considers other options?” he said. “We have a lot of information, a lot of statements, a lot of video in this case, and we should learn from it.”

Wendy Gillis can be reached at wgillis@thestar.ca