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Why, Zabdyr even handed her handcuffs to Michael Theriault so he could cuff Miller himself and pat him down for any weapons.

Such is the cosy brotherhood of blue.

Miller, 19 at the time, would be the one charged with assault and assault with a weapon and possession of $10 worth of marijuana as he lay vomiting in a hospital bed with injuries that included a fractured left side of his nose, broken orbital bone and an eye so damaged it would have to be surgically removed.

Those charges were eventually withdrawn after his lawyer went to the Special Investigations Unit — the province’s watchdog agency responsible for investigating incidents involving police that have resulted in death or serious injury.

The SIU went on to charge the brothers in July 2017 with one count each of aggravated assault and obstructing justice.

Prosecutors allege the Theriaults chased and hammered Miller with a metal pipe and later lied about what happened to investigators. Both men have pleaded not guilty in the judge-alone trial before Superior Court Justice Joseph Di Luca.

McQuoid testified that he was told the SIU was going to be called in so he drove over to the Theriaults’ home where he advised the brothers’ father, John, who also happens to be in professional standards with Toronto Police.

How courteous.

As we now know, the SIU wasn’t contacted as required by either police service in Durham or Toronto.

McQuoid testified that he found a galvanized steel pipe — about 1.2-metres long — on the front lawn of 113 Erickson Dr. in Whitby, steps from the driveway where he’d earlier seen Michael Theriault pinning a handcuffed Miller against the blood-stained hood of a vehicle.