Assistant Commissioner David Teboul speaks during an RCMP news conference in Surrey B.C., in April.ETHAN CAIRNS/The Canadian Press
An RCMP commander in B.C. has been charged with multiple counts of assault after an off-duty altercation this summer in a Vancouver suburb.
The BC Prosecution Service said in a news release Friday that Assistant Commissioner David Teboul, who is the RCMP’s Pacific Region commander, is accused of assaulting two people and choking one of them.
The provincial agency said he was charged Thursday in relation to the alleged incident on July 2. The prosecution service said it appointed Vancouver lawyer Andi MacKay as a special prosecutor on Aug. 20 to review the matter and “avoid any potential for real or perceived improper influence” in the process.
The service says the Abbotsford Provincial Court has ordered a publication ban on the identities of the victims and would not comment further.
Assistant Commissioner Teboul did not immediately respond to a request for comment via social media late Friday afternoon. He is to appear in court on Oct. 9.
Registry staff did not respond to a Friday afternoon request for the name of any counsel that may be representing Assistant Commissioner Teboul.
Abbotsford police confirmed Friday that they responded to a public facility along McMillan Rd on July 2 to a report of an assault. The Abbotsford Recreation Centre is located on McMillan Rd.
A witness, one of more than two dozen people in the lobby of the rec centre at the time, said they saw the accused get into an altercation with what appeared to be a teen boy.
The Globe and Mail is not identifying this person because they were not authorized to speak about the incident.
Dawn Roberts, director of communications for the RCMP in B.C., said in a statement that the force started a code-of-conduct investigation into Assistant Commissioner Teboul after learning of the incident.
That investigation is still open and he has been temporarily reassigned to other duties, with his status “subject to continuous review and assessment,” her statement said.
The RCMP’s website says Assistant Commissioner Teboul has been a Mountie since 1997 and has served in detachments along the West Coast of Canada, working on homicide cases, anti-corruption files and counterterrorism.
In March, 2024, Assistant Commissioner Teboul was appointed to lead the federal Mounties in the Pacific region, which includes B.C. and Yukon.
Over the past year, he was often the face of the force during high-profile press conferences, including for the bust of a “superlab” in B.C.’s Interior that was producing hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of methamphetamine and fentanyl for export across the Pacific Ocean.
His official RCMP online biography says he oversees national security, drugs and organized crime, border integrity, financial integrity and protective services.
The force’s website says he has also “been granted several RCMP service awards and commendations.”
Assistant Commissioner Teboul received the King Charles III Coronation Medal in June, about two weeks before the alleged offences. He was nominated by Kerry-Lynne Findlay, the former MP for South Surrey–White Rock.
With reports from The Canadian Press