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(JOHN MCDONALD / iNFOnews.ca)

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KELOWNA - A Kelowna RCMP officer will not be charged for an incident last year when a woman fractured her knee during an arrest.

The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. has released its decision regarding a case from Feb. 28, 2018 where a woman fractured her right knee as she was being arrested for disturbing the peace. The woman and the officer in the case were not identified in the decision.

According to the Investigations Office decision, the woman filed a written complaint with the RCMP on March 12, 2018. She also contacted the Investigations Office on March 26. The RCMP did not inform the Office about the complaint.

The decision document details that on Feb. 28, 2018 at 10:42 p.m., Kelowna RCMP received a noise complaint from residents in an unidentified multi-unit building. An officer attended the scene and knocked on the door of the woman who eventually filed the complaint.

Both the woman and the officer offered different versions of events.

The woman stated she grabbed her phone to record the conversation before she answered the door. She said the officer stormed into the room and kicked her behind her right knee, making her fall. She alleged the kick caused her knee injury, which required surgery. She claimed she asked the officer for an ambulance, but he didn't call one for 15 minutes. She alleged the entire incident, from the officer knocking on the door to him kicking and arresting her, took five minutes.

The officer, in a written account, said he arrived at the building and knocked on the door. He spoke to the woman through the door, telling her about the noise complaint, but she allegedly said she was doing nothing wrong and told him to leave her alone. The officer kept knocking and the woman opened the door and the officer reported hearing loud sounds from her television. The officer told her she could be arrested for disturbing the peace and the woman reportedly said "[I] can do whatever I want."

The officer stated the woman tried to shut the door, hitting the officer's foot. He warned her again that she could be arrested and she allegedly replied, "You are not going to fucking tell me what to do in my own apartment."

The officer stated he believed the woman would not stop the disturbance and decided to arrest her.

The officer said he took hold of the woman's right arm, at which point she twisted away and lost balance, landing on her left side. The officer handcuffed her as she screamed that her leg was broken, at which point he called in an ambulance.

In its decision, the Investigations Office noted the officer's transmission record shows he arrived at the building at 10:57 p.m., while emergency services records revealed an ambulance arrived at the building at 11:08 p.m., meaning the entire incident happened in 11 minutes, invalidating the woman's claims about the time duration of the arrest.

The report said the officer was acting within his duties as a peace officer and did not use excessive force. It did note, however, that the officer should have obtain a warrant to enter the woman's apartment.

The Investigations Office did not refer the incident to the Crown for charges, although it did advise the RCMP about its failure to report the incident to them in the first place.

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