(video) — Two of three men charged with assaulting a Vancouver police officer Tuesday are sons of an original member of the East End Hells Angels, Postmedia has learned.
A Vancouver police officer was taken to hospital Tuesday night after he was beaten during a routine traffic stop in downtown Vancouver.
It happened at around 10 p.m. when two plainclothes officers pulled over a Dodge Durango on Robson Street after they spotted travelling through an area of Granville Street closed to private vehicles.
The VPD says the three men in the vehicle, all in their early 20s and well-known to the police, were confrontational and verbally abusive during the traffic stop.
“The officers became concerned for their safety as the occupants refused to follow police direction and began reaching under the seat,” VPD spokesman Sgt. Jason Robillard said in a news release.
The assault began when one officer opened the passenger door and the front passenger pulled him into the vehicle and two men began punching him in the face. As the other officer rushed to help, all three men got out of the vehicle and continued to assault the officers.
While the officers were waiting for backup to arrive, one of the three men ran away and was hit by a pickup truck as he crossed an intersection against a red light.
The man continued to run for two more blocks before being arrested by the uninjured officer, who was giving chase.
“This is an example of the risk all police officers face as they work to protect the citizens they serve. This sort of incident affects the entire policing community,” said Robillard. “We wish our officer a speedy recovery and will ensure the officer and his family have the support they need.”
Troy Michael Robinson, born in 1996, and his brother Brendan John Robinson, born in 1997, both of West Vancouver, were arrested Tuesday by Vancouver police after fleeing the scene of the assault.
Both are sons of Lloyd Robinson, who retired from the Hells Angels several years ago.
The elder Robinson is the half-brother of John Bryce, the president of the East End chapter of the notorious biker gang.
Lloyd Robinson left the HA after a major undercover investigation in which police agent Micheal Plante infiltrated the gang by getting close to him.
Both Troy and Brendan Robinson are charged with assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest along with a third man, Brian Benjamin Allen, of Victoria.
Allen is also charged with possession of stolen property worth under $5,000.
Troy and Brendan’s brother, Lloyd Robinson Jr., was convicted in 2014 of assaulting a taxi driver and breaking his nose and eye sockets . He was sentenced to 16 months in jail.
In a video of Tuesday’s incident posted to YouTube, a witness, who claims to have assisted in the arrest, can be heard questioning the arresting officer’s use of force.
“That dude kicked him in the stomach pretty hard for no reason,” the man said while pointing at the officer.
“He severely assaulted my partner and he is combative,” responded the officer.
Warning: Video contains crude language and violence
The VPD said the man who ran from the scene was lucky not to have been seriously injured. He was check in hospital and released.
The injured police officer, meanwhile, is recovering at home.
“The injuries are to the head and face, and we consider them to be substantial injuries,” said Robillard.
Robillard was asked at a Thursday media conference if the officers, who were dressed in plainclothes, properly identified themselves as the police.
“These officers in this particular case were in plainclothes. They did pull this vehicle over with their emergency lights on their vehicle, they did identify themselves as police officers, and there is no doubt in my mind that the three occupants in the vehicle knew they were police officers — just from comments made and evidence I read,” he said.
