An RCMP officer has been fired after a disciplinary tribunal found he violated the force’s code of conduct when he beat and robbed a former girlfriend while they were in Croatia in 2012.The former constable, Erwin Estrada, 42, and Svetlana Mitrovich, 35, had an on-again, off-again relationship that began in 2008 at a Brampton massage parlour.The relationship eventually turned sour when the two had an altercation at Mitrovich’s condominium in Makarska, Croatia, on Aug. 3, 2012. The incident led to Estrada’s arrest by Croatian police and his eventual conviction for “malicious mischief and theft.”But in the RCMP’s Notice of Disciplinary Hearing, a document that contains the force’s allegations against Estrada, the former officer is also said to have “physically assaulted S.M. (Mitrovich), causing her injury.” The tribunal agreed.“It is not a fair fight. She has been drinking; he has not. He is taller and weighs between 80 and 100 pounds more than she does. As a mounted policeman, he was trained . . . in the ugly art of ground-fighting. . . . He’s been trained in tae kwon do and full-contact kickboxing and calls himself a very good fighter,” Insp. James Knopp said as he read out the tribunal’s ruling on Jan. 13 in Mississauga.“He gave her a thorough and sound beating” said Knopp.In all, Estrada was found to have contravened the force’s code of conduct four times.The next day, the three-member board ordered Estrada to quit within 14 days. He did not resign and was served with an order of dismissal on March 8.In a March 10 email sent to the Star, Estrada said he would file an appeal.“I never stole her money, and I never destroyed her property. The evidence when properly assessed proves my innocence,” Estrada said Feb. 18 in an email to the Star.And while the tribunal members concluded that both Mitrovich and Estrada were unreliable in their tes ...
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