Trial of off-duty cop in death of Brampton teen over fake watch deal heads back to court

The trial of an off-duty Toronto cop charged with assault in the death of a 19-year-old Brampton man resumed on Wednesday following testimony that the accused tackled the victim to the ground after the “Kijiji deal gone bad” was already resolved.

Const. Calvin Au of the Toronto Police Service is on trial for assault causing bodily harm in the death of 19-year-old Chadd Facey, who died in hospital on April 26, 2021, after he was tackled to the ground for selling a fake Apple watch to Au’s coworker, Const. Gurmakh Benning.

Au was originally charged with manslaughter and aggravated assault in Facey’s death – charges which were walked as the Crown said it “is not in a position to allege that Facey’s death was caused by the interaction with Au” in an agreed statement of facts.

On Monday the court heard that Benning and Au met with Facey in the parking lot of Beryl Ford Public School in Brampton agreeing to buy an Apple watch for $400 from the 19-year-old on Kijiji. Benning was planning to purchase the watch and brought Au along as he also owned an Apple watch.

Only after the deal was done did the two officers discover the watch was a fake and began pursuing Facey both by car and on foot, according to reports and Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit.

Benning testified that Au gave chase on foot while he followed in a vehicle, catching up to Facey and getting his $400 back from the young  Brampton man.

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That’s when Benning says Au tackled Facey and an altercation ensued.

“And then I basically went down, and got up, and then I was about to call 911, and then I observed a female in an SUV, and she stopped by and asked if everything was OK,” he said.

Benning made a call to 911 and told the operator he’d been robbed.

Later that day, Facey was rushed to Brampton Civic Hospital where he died just a few hours later.

The two Toronto police officers reportedly didn’t identify themselves as police officers when they made the call about a Kijiji deal “gone bad” and also allegedly failed to notify Peel Regional Police about the incident.

Neither Beginning nor Au reported to Toronto police about their involvement in the case and their actions were instead discovered as a result of another police service’s investigation.

Both officers faced multiple misconduct charges according to documents filed at the Toronto police tribunal in 2022, including neglect of duty, discreditable conduct and insubordination.

Au was an eight-year veteran of the force before he was suspended with pay following Facey’s death.

Facey was remembered as a loving and cherished son, brother and uncle. He was a hip-hop artist who performed under the stage name DPA Face.