The police officer charged in the off-duty beating of Black teen Dafonte Miller is accused of telling Durham police officers an account of the confrontation “which was not accurate,” according to newly released Toronto police disciplinary documents.

Const. Michael Theriault made his first appearance before the Toronto police misconduct tribunal Tuesday, facing one count of discreditable conduct stemming from his alleged attack on Miller, then 19, on a residential Whitby street in December 2016.

Accompanied by his lawyer, wearing a dark suit with his hands clasped behind his back, Theriault told hearing officer Acting Supt. Richard Hegedus that he understood that he was facing a charge under Ontario’s Police Services Act. He did not enter a plea.

According to a document outlining the allegations, Theriault’s alleged attack on Miller and subsequent criminal charges — including aggravated assault and assault with a weapon — amount to misconduct “in that you did act in a disorderly manner . . . likely to bring discredit upon the reputation of the Toronto Police Service.”

The document alleges that after Theriault struck Miller with a weapon and caused “serious injury,” Theriault provided Durham Regional Police officers who arrived on scene with “an account of the confrontation . . . which was not accurate.” No further detail about Theriault’s version of events is provided.

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Theriault is also facing a criminal charge of public mischief for allegedly “attempting to mislead a peace officer” into entering upon or continuing an investigation, according to court documents. Those documents, however, did not state explicitly that the brothers were alleged to have misled Durham police, though the date of the alleged public mischief — Dec. 28, 2016 — suggested it was the officers responding to the call.

None of the allegations have been proven at the tribunal or in court.

A preliminary inquiry began in Oshawa last week into the criminal charges against Theriault and his younger brother, Christian, who is also accused of aggravated assault, assault with a weapon and public mischief stemming from the alleged attack.

Evidence heard at the preliminary hearing is covered by a court-ordered publication ban.

The Toronto police tribunal document provides a rough sketch of what was previously alleged in a court documents and detailed in a complaint filed to the Office of the Independent Police Review Director by Miller’s lawyer, Julian Falconer, last summer.

In Falconer’s document, it’s alleged that Const. Theriault struck Miller with a metal pipe “no fewer than 10 times,” but that when Durham police arrived on scene both brothers reported that Miller had struck them repeatedly with the pipe.

Demonstrators protested outside an Oshawa courthouse where a pre-trial hearing was being held for a Toronto police officer and his brother who are charged in assaulting Dafonte Miller. The brothers, Const. Michael Theriault and Christian Theriault, did not appear in person at the on Sept. 7 hearing. (Wendy Gillis/Toronto Star)

The complaint went on to allege there was a “deliberate and intentional” effort by police to “conceal a crime by one of their own.” The complaint alleged that the brothers’ father, John Theriault — a Toronto police officer himself, who was working within Toronto police’s professional standards unit at the time — made attempts to conceal his sons’ alleged crimes.

Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders has denied allegations of a coverup.

On the day of the incident, Durham police initially charged Miller with assault with a weapon, theft under $5,000 and possession of a small amount of marijuana. The charges were later withdrawn by the Crown.

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The Theriault brothers were not charged until July 2017, and only after Falconer contacted the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), Ontario’s civilian police watchdog, initiating a criminal investigation. In the wake of the alleged beating, neither Toronto nor Durham police had contacted the watchdog.

Saunders has since called in the Waterloo Police Service to conduct an internal probe of the incident. Durham police Chief Paul Martin announced a new policy last fall intended to ensure that the SIU is contacted after serious injuries involving a police officer that happen in Durham, regardless of whether the officer was from his force or off duty at the time.

Theriault’s professional misconduct hearing has been put off until the criminal proceedings are complete. The preliminary hearing continues in May.

With Star files Wendy Gillis can be reached at wgillis@thestar.ca

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