Vernon RCMP cleared of wrongdoing after intoxicated woman injured during arrest | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Vernon RCMP cleared of wrongdoing after intoxicated woman injured during arrest

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The B.C. police watchdog has cleared Vernon North Okanagan RCMP officers of any wrongdoing after an intoxicated woman fell and injured her eye during an arrest.

According to a Jan. 20 Independent Investigations Office decision, four Vernon RCMP officers were called to an apartment, Dec. 12, 2021, following a complaint about a domestic disturbance.

The Investigations Office said the woman fell while being escorted out of her home and seriously injured her eye.

The unnamed woman admitted she was "upset" and "very angry" at police when they arrived at her home.

The woman said she had consumed a mickey of liquor and put herself at a six on a scale of one to 10 in terms of drunkenness.

According to the decision, police arrested her partner due to a court order forbidding him to be with the woman if he'd been drinking. He was hiding in the bedroom.

The woman was also arrested and handcuffed and according to her "pushed up against the stove." She also claimed she was pushed down "towards the ground."

The woman's partner told investigators that two officers "slammed" the woman into the stove and said they were "roughhousing her."

The partner also said that outside the building he saw the police officers picking the woman up off the ground, but said he "didn't think it was that bad."

Video from outside the Vernon police station shows the woman visibly injured with blood on her face when she arrived at the detachment.

She was placed in a cell and 20 minutes later a paramedic arrives and takes her away on a stretcher.

According to the decision, police say the woman's apartment was in a "deplorable state" with garbage, rotten food, as well as beer and cooking oil on the counters and the floor.

One police officer says the woman swung her fist at the officer and the officer decided to arrest her for "mischief" and pulled her arms behind her back to apply handcuffs.

Two RCMP officers then attempted to move the woman through the apartment but the woman stopped, bent forward, and allowed her body to go limp and fell to the floor.

The police officer says they saw this as a deliberate attempt to avoid arrest.

Another officer describes the woman as "going limp" and was "like a dead weight."

"She fell on the floor and hit her head, hit her face off the floor," the officer said in the decision.

According to the decision, a police camera recorded audio while outside the detachment saying "she... slipped and fell in the... kitchen. She's... bleeding everywhere."

Investigators were not able to identify the speaker in the recording.

The decision says that the Independent Investigations Office visited the apartment several days after the incident and found several draws open in the narrow kitchen, leaving sharp corners exposed. The Investigations Office also noted spilt liquids on the floor made it slippery and sticky.

The Independent Investigations Office concluded that the injury was most likely the result of the woman's behaviour while being arrested, possibly in combination with the cluttered kitchen and state of the floor.

"There is no indication on any of the video recordings, either at the (woman's) apartment building or at the RCMP detachment, of any rough or otherwise inappropriate handling of (the woman) by any officer," reads the decision.

The IIO is the independent civilian oversight agency of the police in B.C. It investigates all officer-related incidents that result in serious harm or death, whether or not there is any allegation of wrongdoing.


To contact a reporter for this story, email Ben Bulmer or call (250) 309-5230 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

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