Why Ottawa police chased, beat and arrested the wrong man, in their own words [Video]

Months after Ottawa police beat a young Black man in a case of mistaken identity, CBC News has obtained internal reports from the force that shed light on the severity of the violence, and what officers say they were thinking as they pursued the wrong suspect and attacked him with a stun gun.

CBC obtained police files on the arrest of Kane Niyondagara, who was detained and released in February after being confused with a murder suspect, through a freedom of information request.

The files identify the suspect officers were actually looking for, reveal that a Starbucks employee had called police with a mistaken report, and provide more detail about the level of force police used — including a closed-fist strike that caused an officer’s hand to bleed.

The documents confirm the broad strokes of the account Nyondagara gave of the incident — that he was chased, tackled and struck — but also suggest officers feared …