Nanaimo Mounties involved in the arrest of a reportedly intoxicated woman in September 2024 will not face charges after her arm was broken while being processed at the detachment. (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

iio report

No charges pending for Nanaimo Mounties after woman breaks arm in custody

Mar 25, 2025 | 10:35 AM

NANAIMO — The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. (IIO) will not recommend charges against local RCMP officers after a woman fractured her arm while in police cells.

A report from the IIO published Tuesday, March 25 outlined the Sept. 26, 2024 incident, just before 9 p.m. where a person called 911 for an ambulance, to tend to a woman at a local apartment building, identified as ‘AP’ (affected person), who was threatening to seriously injure herself.

“[The caller] told the call-taker that the AP was ‘smashing her head against the window’ and that she was holding a knife,” the report outlined. “About five and a half minutes into the call, [the caller] stated that the AP was leaving the apartment and that she no longer had the knife with her.”

Details on what occurred next differ greatly from the woman, responding officers and witnesses to the incident, along with available security camera footage.

After a brief search of a nearby park, the woman was located by police. She told investigators she was “slammed” to the concrete by the arresting officer, dragged along the ground causing her to bleed, and then “tossed” into the back of a police car.

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Testimony from a responding police officer, identified as Witness Officer 1, stated the arresting officer located the woman a short distance away and they saw the arresting officer placing handcuffs on the woman.

She was reportedly “physically compliant, but was complaining about being detained.”

Security cameras from the apartment building showed the woman walking back with the police officers “with no obvious injuries or difficulty.”

Two civilian witnesses also reported to the IIO they saw the woman walking and appeared uninjured. They also testified the woman was screaming at the police officers, who remained calm and protected her head as she was seated in the back of the vehicle.

En route to the Nanaimo detachment, the woman began banging her head on the partition between the front and back seats, according to officer testimony.

She also began ‘thrashing around’ in the back seat of the vehicle, sweating excessively, and appeared to be heavily intoxicated.

The woman was escorted to the booking area but became agitated once more during a search.

Video recordings from the facility show her “twisting her body” and escalating the situation physically.

Police responded by attempting to subdue the woman by holding both arms, and during an attempt by one of the officers to lift the woman by her armpits, an audible “snapping sound” was heard from the woman’s left arm causing it to go limp.

The woman was placed in cells and paramedics were called, diagnosing her with a fractured humerus, a bone in the upper arm.

She was taken to hospital for treatment and no other injuries were noted. The woman was also recorded saying she had “no recollection of the evening.”

The IIO determined officers had reasonable grounds to arrest the woman and detain her for the purpose of her safety and further investigation.

“They were acting in the lawful execution of their duty when they detained her and took her to the detachment, potentially to charge her and at least to hold her until she had sobered up.”

The report continued to say officers “were justified in using a necessary degree of force to permit [the police officer] to carry out the search.”

Evidence suggests, according to the IIO, the woman’s injury stemmed from her “struggles and the…officers’ attempts to control her, recorded as noted above on video, her left arm was twisted in a manner that caused it to be injured.”

The IIO is automatically summoned to investigate situations where people are injured or killed through either direct or indirect action or inaction by RCMP officers in B.C.

The Office is a civilian-led agency, independent from the RCMP.

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