A B.C. woman who uses a walker for mobility has been awarded $55,000 in damages after a judge determined she was 'falsely arrested, falsely imprisoned, assaulted and battered' by an RCMP officer in the province's north.
An RCMP officer tries to arrest Irene Josephs outside a Marks Work Wearhouse in Smithers, B.C. on Dec. 4, 2014 a few metres away from the walker she use for mobility. VANCOUVER -- A B.C. woman who uses a walker for mobility has been awarded $55,000 in damages after a judge determined she was "falsely arrested, falsely imprisoned, assaulted and battered" by an RCMP officer in the province's north.
"There were other options available to Const. Meier. He did not need to attempt to handcuff her. He did not need to struggle with her. He did not need to take her to the ground and continue to wrestle with her," Brown wrote. "He knew that his partner was two minutes away. He could have waited. He could have followed Ms. Joseph if she walked away."
Staff called police, and by the time Const. Meier arrived and spoke with the manager, Joseph was waiting in line to make her purchase. Explaining his actions to the court, Meier noted it was his experience that "shoplifters often pay for one item while concealing others that they are stealing" and that he believed it was suspicious that Joseph refused to give her name or allow him to search her purse voluntarily.
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