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(KIM ANDERSON / iNFOnews.ca)

A Vernon woman with a lengthy criminal record is suing the province claiming she was injured when two police vehicles purposely crashed into a car she was a passenger in during an RCMP sting operation in Sicamous.

The incident took place January 2019 when the RCMP was staking out a suspect thought to be involved in an armed robbery.

In her notice of claim Dec. 23, Kimberley Lou Daley said she was falsely arrested during the incident and sustained serious injuries to her back, neck and shoulders due to the collision.

The 45-year-old filed her claim against the Minister of Public Safety and the Solicitor General of B.C. and the Attorney General of Canada.

According to the court documents, Daley was the passenger in a Toyota backing out of her daughter's driveway in Sicamous early in the afternoon.

The document says as the Toyota was reversing, two RCMP vehicles "purposefully collided" with the vehicle she was in. One RCMP vehicle hit the right front bumper, the other purposely hit the left fender and left front door. Daley got out of the vehicle and was arrested, along with the driver of the vehicle, Louis Roebuck.

However, the RCMP were looking for a different person, who at the time was a suspect in an armed robbery.

In a statement to the media released shortly after the incident, the RCMP said they had mistaken the man Daley was with for Michael David Trosky who was wanted on several outstanding warrants.

The release said an RCMP truck had blocked Daley’s vehicle while another RCMP vehicle “boxed in the driver side of the vehicle causing heavy damage.”

RCMP said despite the heavy police presence involving multiple units along with RCMP officers from Salmon Arm and Sicamous detachments, Trosky was not caught. RCMP said Daley was released without charge, while Roebuck was charged for driving while prohibited.

In her notice of claim, Daley says the RCMP was negligent in its behaviour during the operation.

“The RCMP officers breached the duty of care owed to (Daley),” reads the document.

Daley claims the RCMP acted “without due regard” choosing to “ram” the vehicle and “failed to exercise the standard of care required of a reasonable and careful person.”

Daley also claims she was arrested without the police having “reasonable cause” to believe that a crime had been committed.

“In conducting the arrest, RCMP officers committed a false arrest through the intentional and total confinement of (Daley) against her will without lawful justification,” the court documents say.

Daley claims due to the police's action she now suffers soft tissue injuries to her back, shoulders and neck, as well as having flashbacks, loss of sleep, depression and suffers from PTSD. She also says she now has chronic anxiety and difficulties coping with emotional stress.

“These injuries have caused and continue to cause the (Daley) pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, permanent disability, loss of physical, mental and emotional health, and loss of earnings, past and prospective," reads the document.

Daley is no stranger to the courts and has a lengthy criminal record dating back 15 years. She has previously been charged for trafficking a controlled substance and using a forged document. She also has multiple convictions for theft under $5,000 and for breaching court orders.

In October 2020, she breached a sentence of house arrest on three consecutive days. She's next due in court Jan. 12 which appears to be related to credit card fraud.

The RCMP did eventually catch up with Trosky and he was taken into custody in Kamloops in April 2019. He was facing charges following a robbery in Salmon Arm in December 2018, but in May 2020 the Crown stayed 10 charges against him including dangerous driving, flight from police and assaulting police officers with a weapon.

The province has yet to file a counterclaim in the dispute.

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