Cst. Roger Yeo, 38, made his first appearance on the new charge Tuesday, July 22 at a Peel police disciplinary hearing. The charge was laid under the Police Services Act.
According to the Peel Police Professional Standards Bureau, Yeo was required to address his earlier statements — made during an unrelated disciplinary hearing — that several Peel officers, including himself, use steroids.
However, when contacted by internal affairs officers, Yeo refused to speak about the matter, police allege. He was charged June 24 with insubordination.
Yeo told a hearing last January that when he joined the force in 2003, there were several officers taking steroids because they thought "being big was better."
"I don't know if (steroid use) was accepted, but a lot of guys were on it, including myself," he said.
Yeo said the use of anabolic steroids was talked about regularly among officers in the change rooms.
"I knew there were several guys on steroids," he said.
Yeo said using steroids allowed him to bulk up to 255 pounds, and that at 6-foot-1, he was a force to be reckoned with when responding to calls of potential violence.
"(They would call me) in case it got out of hand," Yeo said, adding other officers referred to him as "freak" or "juice monkey" because of his size.
Shortly after Yeo's comments, Police Chief Michael Metcalf announced he was launching an internal affairs investigation.
"It's paramount that we maintain the confidence of the community we serve," Metcalf said in an earlier press release. "Allegations made against members of this service are taken seriously and will be investigated thoroughly."
In Canada, anabolic steroids and their derivatives, used most commonly to increase muscle size and strength, are addressed under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. It's illegal to obtain or sell them. However, possession isn't punishable under the law.
Yeo made the comments while testifying in his own defence at a hearing in which he was charged with discreditable conduct. He was eventually found guilty because he pursued and struck up random conversations with young Mississauga girls, simply because they were "pretty."
Yeo was off duty at the time of the incidents, which occurred in 2005 in Erin Mills and Meadowvale.
"Adult male strangers repeatedly driving through residential areas and approaching young females is potentially a very serious matter," Staff Supt. Roman Boychuk, who presided over Yeo's hearing, said in his ruling.
Yeo remains suspended with pay. He'll be back in front of Boychuk Oct. 6 for the penalty phase of his hearing. Yeo could be fired or demoted.
Meanwhile, Yeo appears in Brampton court Sept. 16 to confirm his trial date, which is scheduled for Oct. 29-30, on a separate criminal matter.
Yeo is charged with possession of stolen property under $5,000. It’s alleged he was in possession of a smoke hand grenade issued only to serving military personnel.
Yeo served with the Canadian Armed Forces and was a member of Canada’s peacekeeping force in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1993. He also served in Cyprus.
Halton Crown Attorney Brian O’Marra, who's prosecuting the case as an outside Crown, said Yeo was no longer with the Canadian army when it’s alleged the grenade was discovered in his possession in December 2006.
“We’re not alleging there was any plot to use this or that it was used,” O’Marra said earlier. “We’re alleging it was stolen from the Canadian army.”
lrosella@mississauga.net
