Two police officers testified that a man accused of killing a Toronto cop said he was scared and that he didn’t know they were police after his arrest, as the Crown and defence finished calling evidence on Friday.
Umar Zameer has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of Det.-Const. Jeffrey Northrup, who died after he was run over by a car in an underground parking garage on July 2, 2021.
Det.-Const. Ryan D’Souza told jurors on Friday that Zameer pointed to his police vest after his arrest, saying the man and woman who first approached his car in the parking lot — Northrup and his partner Sgt. Lisa Forbes — did not have similar identifiers.
D’Souza said he received an emergency call from another officer on his team to an underground parking lot at Toronto City Hall about 20 minutes after midnight.
The major crimes unit at the Toronto police 52 division had been investigating a stabbing in Nathan Phillips Square, D’Souza said. The team, including D’Souza, wore plain clothes that night. Before entering the parking garage, however, he said he put on a black bulletproof vest with the word “police” written on the front and back.
After entering the P1 level of the parking garage, D’Souza described seeing two of his fellow officers outside of the police minivan they were driving. Both the airbags in the police minivan were deployed, he said.
The van was parked directly behind a dark coloured BMW sedan, he recalled. D’Souza said he saw a man, Zameer, handcuffed in a kneeling position next to both vehicles.
“He was just staring into the distance,” D’Souza said. “He appeared to have a glazed look on his face.” The officer added that Zameer looked “not completely present.”
Several meters away, D’Souza saw a pregnant woman — Zameer’s wife, Aaida Shaikh — holding a young child and “crying heavily.”
Other officers told D’Souza that Northrup had been run over and that Zameer was not a suspect in the stabbing they had been investigating.
After another officer was called away, D’Souza said he finished reading Zameer his legal rights after his arrest. He then asked Zameer about what happened.
Referring to his police notes from the incident in the witness box, D’Souza recalled Zameer saying there had been a stabbing, that he had seen many police cars and he wanted to leave. Zameer then said a man and woman had gotten out of a black van and began hitting his car.
“He said that he was scared and trying to get away,” the officer recalled. “He said that he had no idea that they were police.”
After Zameer referenced D’Souza’s police vest, D’Souza said he asked if Zameer had seen the officer’s badges. Zameer replied that he did not see anything.
Later, after Zameer was transported to the police station, D’Souza said the accused’s expression remained shocked and glazed. “His demeanour did not change,” he said.
Court has heard Zameer was in downtown Toronto with his pregnant wife and young son to enjoy Canada Day festivities. He was not involved in the stabbing that police were investigating, but he had coincidentally walked past the victim earlier that night.
Defence disputes testimony of officer who punched Zameer
Defence counsel disputed testimony put forward by Const. Scharnil Pais on Friday about the order of events surrounding Pais punching Zameer that night.
After Zameer had been arrested and handcuffed by another officer in the parking garage, Pais said he told Zameer to get up and that he had “ran over a cop.” Zameer replied that he didn’t know they were cops, Pais said.
In response, the officer said he observed what he believed at the time to be Northrup’s “flesh and blood.” He recalled telling Zameer again that he had run over his partner. Pais said Zameer still did not get up.
“I then struck [Zameer], and then he complied and I could get him off the ground,” he said.
Defence lawyer Nader Hasan disputed the officer’s order of events. During his testimony, Zameer told the jury that Pais instructed him to get up and punched him in the face when he struggled to do so.
Only after Pais punched him did the officer tell Zameer that he had “run over his partner” and that they were police, Zameer said.
Hasan also suggested Pais did not include everything that occurred in his police notes, which the officer referred to in the witness box on Friday. Pais agreed that Zameer had told him on the night of the incident after his arrest that he was scared, but this was not included in his notes.
Accused gave tearful testimony on Thursday
During his testimony on Thursday, Zameer tearfully apologized to Northrup’s family and said he thought his family was being ambushed by criminals that night.
He told jurors he did not know the man and woman — Northrup and his partner Sgt. Lisa Forbes — who approached his car that night were police.
“Why wouldn’t I stop if they [said] ‘police?’ Why wouldn’t I talk to them?” Zameer said on Thursday. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Crown prosecutors allege Zameer chose to make a series of manoeuvres with his car that caused Northrup’s death, but the defence says the officer’s death was a tragic accident.
Court is expected to resume with closing arguments on Tuesday.