B.C. police watchdog recommends charges against Kamloops RCMP officer

B.C.'s police watchdog is recommending prosecutors lay charges after Kamloops RCMP injured a man in a wrongful arrest.

On June 23, 2020, around 10:45 a.m., police responded to a Brocklehurst home where a fight was reported involving a firearm.

Officers had all residents of a home on the 1000 block of Newton Street in two different suites exit.

READ MORE: Kamloops RCMP being investigated after shooting man at unfounded disturbance call

One man was seriously injured as he exited when officers used a 40mm less-than-lethal round and a police dog to subdue him, according to an Independent Investigations Office of B.C. news release.

Police later found the report of the fight was false.

The Independent Investigations Office has now sent a report to the B.C. Prosecution Service to consider charges.

Chief civilian director Ronald J. MacDonald believes an officer may have violated the Police Act using excessive force, according to the release.

This investigation has been ongoing for over a year, which was first announced on June 24, 2020.

The Independent Investigations Office is a civilian oversight agency for police in B.C., which investigates any officer-related incidents that result in either serious harm or death, whether or not there is any allegation of wrongdoing.

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