Manitoba’s police watchdog agency the Independent Investigation Unit (IIU) has cleared an RCMP officer of any wrongdoing in an April 2017 arrest of a woman in Beausejour.
The IIU say that police had received a call about a woman throwing items around a convenience store in the town about 60 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg. When the officer arrived he found the 64-year-old woman lying on the roadway. She was arrested for being intoxicated and while the officer was attempting to put a handcuff on the woman she resisted and pulled her arms away. The officer restrained the woman using an “arm bar” move (a wrestling hold) and heard a pop from her right elbow area as he applied the cuffs.
Paramedics evaluated the woman at the RCMP detachment and she was then taken to the Beausejour Health Centre where it was determined she had a broken arm above the elbow. The woman was also admitted for a mental health assessment by doctors.
RELATED | IIU INVESTIGATING SERIOUS INJURY DURING ARREST IN BEAUSEJOUR
Under the mandate of the IIU all serious injuries caused by police are investigated.
The investigators interviewed two witnesses to the arrest as well as the woman who was arrested. She had no memory how or when her arm was injured.
IIU Civilian Director Zane Tessler said that the presence of independent civilian witnesses significantly aided him in reaching the conclusion that there are insufficient grounds to believe the officer used excessive force in arresting the woman.
-News 4-
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