An arrest that resulted in a 16-year-old Thompson female being diagnosed with a broken right wrist after her release by the RCMP did not constitute an unlawful or excessive use of force, the provincial police watchdog agency concluded in a report released March 31.
The Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba (IIU), which looks into serious incidents involving on-and off-duty police officers in the province, was advised last Oct. 16 that the teen, who was forcibly taken into custody Oct. 8, went to Thompson General Hospital complaining of a sore right arm and was diagnosed with a dislocated right elbow and a fractured right wrist. The IIU interviewed the arresting officer and three other RCMP officers who were present at the arrest, as well as the 16-year-old, her boyfriend and her mother. The arrest report, the prisoner report, video footage from the RCMP cell and a cruiser were also examined, along with medical reports concerning the female who was arrested and the dispatch recording from RCMP telecommunications.
The 16-year-old said she was arguing with her boyfriend in a vehicle behind the south tower of Forest View Suites on Princeton Drive in the early morning of Oct. 8 when the police arrived. She said a female officer opened the door and asked for her name, then pulled her out of the vehicle by her wrist and swung her to the ground, snapping her arm back and twisting it. She was handcuffed and taken to the RCMP detachment, and said the officer who fingerprinted her knew something was wrong with her arm because she could not use it properly, though the arrested female said she did not complain of arm pain to any police officers.
The officer who took down the 16-year-old and arrested her said she explained to the female that she was going to be arrested for assaulting her boyfriend and asked her to step out of the vehicle but that she tried to run away, at which point the officer grabbed her hand and gave her a bear hug to take her down on her stomach. The officer described the takedown as “light” and “sloppy” and said it took a couple of minutes to get her to the ground. She said she asked the 16-year-old at the detachment if she had any injuries or medical distress and the was told that she didn’t.
An x-ray of the 16-year-old’s arm at TGH on Oct. 9 revealed an undisplaced fracture but a subsequent examination two days later ruled out a right wrist fracture and the chief medical examiner said the medical reports indicate that any injuries, if they were present, were very minor and unlikely to impede movements of the arm at the shoulder level or elbow.
IIU civilian investigator Zane Tessler concluded that the officer was making a lawful arrest and that any injuries the 16-year-old suffered did not indicate unnecessary or excessive force.
“All of the evidence and information gathered shows police, in particular SO [subject officer], acted within their lawful authority, acted reasonably, and did not use … unreasonable force in removing AP [affected person] from the vehicle and detaining her,” wrote Tessler. “There are no grounds to believe that a Criminal Code or other statutory offence occurred.”
The full report can be viewed at http://www.iiumanitoba.ca/pdf/final_report_2019_060.pdf.
