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Kamloops  

RCMP officer may be charged for rough arrest in Williams Lake

Mountie could be charged

B.C.’s police watchdog has recommended prosecutors charge a Mountie involved in a violent arrest in Williams Lake last year.

The arrest sparked outcry when video of it was posted to social media, showing an officer kicking the man as he was lying on the ground to surrender.

The man was arrested following a “lengthy incident” of alleged dangerous driving between Kamloops and Williams Lake, said the IIO. The man’s vehicle eventually stopped on Highway 97 near White Road in Williams Lake on Oct. 25, 2020.

The suspect went down an embankment before surrendering to police and was arrested.

The IIO said the injuries the man sustained did not meet the required threshold for serious harm — typically what triggers their involvement. But given the significant public scrutiny generated by video captured of the arrest, the Director of Police Services ordered an IIO investigation.

The IIO’s investigation has found reasonable grounds that one of the officers committed an offence in relation to use of force.

The file has now been handed over to the BC Prosecution Service for consideration of charges.



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