The Independent Investigations Office of BC will not be forwarding charges to Crown Counsel following a 2019 incident involving members of the Prince George RCMP.
In a report released today (Wednesday), on May 11th, three years ago, an officer from the detachment was on patrol when they observed a man riding a bicycle, reportedly weaving in and out of traffic and not wearing a helmet in the area of 5th Avenue and Ewert Street.
The officer stopped the man to identify him and serve him a violation ticket. It was during that interaction that the officer attempted to place him under arrest for other unrelated offenses near a residence in the 500-block of Alward Street, where the man reportedly resisted the officer’s attempt to place him in handcuffs
As a result of the man’s resistance, he was taken into custody with assistance from backup officers and transported to the Prince George detachment. Shortly after arrival, the man was lodged into a cell
The following morning the man complained of pain, and BC Emergency Health Services was called in to transport him to a local area hospital for treatment.
“If this was a circumstance where we found that the individual was lawfully arrested and during that arrest, he suffered an injury and we don’t really attribute the injury too to anything unlawful the police did,”
“The only way that they could be found where a criminal offense is associated is if their actions endangered the individual’s life. In this circumstance, we found that while he was in a tremendous amount of pain it didn’t endanger his life in the end,” said Ronald J. MacDonald, Chief Civilian Director of the IIO.
A link to the full report can be found here.