Kamloops cop cleared; woman was injured before arrest

A Kamloops cop was investigated and cleared after a woman awoke in city cells with a broken wrist.

The incident began with a call for a domestic assault on Feb. 4, 2023 when 911 calls came in about the incident at an apartment building just before midnight, according to an Independent Investigations Office of BC decision.

Although the police watchdog couldn't conclusively say what led to her fracture, the evidence pointed to something occurring before police arrived at the scene.

Residents at the building called for police, along with the woman's boyfriend who told police she assaulted him.

They found her sitting on a bench outside the building, but she was intoxicated and uncooperative with police, according to the decision.

The arrest was recorded on the building's surveillance system, which showed no evidence of any "overt" force, other than when the officers pushed and pulled her so she would sit in the back of the cruiser, the decision reads.

One officer removed her hoodie while getting her into a cell. That officer then noticed the woman had a bruise on her right forearm. The officer didn't question her because she was too intoxicated and didn't complain about any pain.

When she awoke in the morning, the woman complained about her forearm and was taken to the hospital, where doctors had to repair it surgically, according to the decision.

She suggested it might have happened while she was handcuffed, but had "essentially no memory" of it because she had so much to drink that night.

The surgeon said the break couldn't have come from being pushed and pulled while being handcuffed. It would have required a much harder impact or fall.

The boyfriend declined to be interviewed by watchdog investigators, but the report notes he's previously been convicted for assaulting the woman.

Chief civilian director Ronald MacDonald cleared the officers of any suspicion, finding no evidence to suggest she was assaulted by police, according to the report released Oct. 26.

No one involved in the investigation, including Kamloops RCMP officers, was named in the Independent Investigations Office report.

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