The reluctance of RCMP officers to co-operate with an investigation after a man suffered a broken arm at an impaired-driving check stop north of Duncan caused “significant difficulty and delay” in the case, says the civilian-led police watchdog agency.
The incident happened about 10:10 p.m. on Dec. 3, 2022, when a man was stopped on the Island Highway and told police he had a glass of wine earlier in the evening, the Independent Investigations Office said in its report.
The man was asked to pull to the side of the check stop, where he was told to step out of the vehicle and give a breath sample.
He refused to leave his vehicle and said he wanted to be tested while sitting in the driver’s seat — which is not usually permitted.
After about five minutes of repeated demands and refusals, the man was told he was under arrest for obstruction, and an officer opened the driver’s-side door and reached inside.
A witness officer who spoke with the IIO said he approached the scene to help and saw other officers trying to remove the man as he clung to the steering wheel with both hands.
Four officers worked together to get the man out, with dashcam footage showing one officer making striking motions with his right hand while another pulled on the man’s leg.
The man said something to the effect of “You broke my arm,” the witness officer said.
He told an officer who was escorting him at the hospital that the the door had closed on his arm while it was trapped in a seatbelt.
The man ended up with fractures to both the radius and ulna of his left arm.
The interaction between the man and police lasted about two minutes and was captured on dashcam video from a police vehicle, but there was no audio because the officer who first dealt with the man didn’t activate his microphone.
The report concluded there was no evidence of unreasonable force being used by police, and said the “mechanics” of the man’s removal, combined with his refusal to follow commands, led to the injury.
“It is clear that police at the check stop were legitimately carrying out their duties under the Motor Vehicle Act in monitoring traffic for potential impaired drivers,” the report said.
It said the officers involved in the incident failed to abide by their statutory duty to deal with the IIO, while the injured man was not required to deal with the IIO and chose not to do so.
The officers’ lack of co-operation was “unfortunate,” the report said.
The IIO investigates police-related incidents resulting in death or serious harm.
