The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) will not recommend charges against Nanaimo RCMP officers after an investigation into a woman who broke her arm while in police custody.
The incident stemmed from a September 26, 2024, 911 request, after a civilian said the affected person (AP) was attempting to harm themselves.
An audio recording of the call said the AP was holding a knife and smashing her head into a window, before leaving the apartment around five minutes later without the knife.
According to the IIO report, The AP said to IIO investigators she went outside to wait for an ambulance, but a police car arrived instead, and they got physical with them.
“The AP described the officer dragging her by her leg and snapping her arms back, causing blood to spill from her left arm, before she was ‘tossed’ into the back of a police vehicle.”
The AP’s apartment building security footage showed the AP walking with three arresting officers but with no apparent injuries or difficulties.
Two civilian witnesses described the AP to be uninjured, while another witness said the AP was screaming at an officer who appeared to have remained calm.
A witness officer told investigators the subject officer was placing the AP in handcuffs who was physically compliant but complaining about being detained.
As the first witness officer started to transport the AP a police cell, the AP started banging their head against the partition between the front and back seats of the vehicle and the officer called for a female member to be at the detachment to conduct a search of the AP upon arrival.
The second witness officer met the first and the AP at the cell’s booking area, who described the AP as sweating profusely and heavily intoxicated.
The IIO report then said the female officer began to search the AP who then started to get agitated, and once the handcuffs came off the struggles began to increase.
The report said that one officer went to move the AP’s arm behind their back, while the other lifted them up by their armpits.
“Witness Officer One told the IIO that at that moment he heard a clearly audible snapping sound and saw the AP’s left arm go limp.”
The AP was then placed into a holding cell and paramedics were summoned to transfer them to a hospital, where they were diagnosed with a fractured humerus.
According to the report, officers had a right to arrest the AP when they found them and were lawful in the way they handled the situation, and a search at the cell booking was required for safety reasons.
“It is unfortunate that in the course of the AP’s struggles and the subject officers attempts to control her, recorded as noted above on video, her left arm was twisted in a manner that caused it to be injured. There is no evidence, though, that the injury was caused by any excessive or unreasonable force applied by any officer.”
As a result, nothing will be referred to Crown Counsel regarding charges.
