Dean Miller knows he’s not perfect and he’s had at least one run-in with the police in the past. However, the Parksville residents said he didn’t deserve to be beaten up for driving without insurance.
That’s what he said happened Saturday night after being pulled over in Parksville.
“I was beat up by three cops,” he said. “I was punched in the face and I’ve got bruises and a black eye.”
Miller said he was driving a friend home when he was pulled over on Highway 19A at Forsythe Avenue.
“I was very polite,” he said. “I was told I had no insurance and I said I should, but it turned out I didn’t. I told the cop, ‘you might be right.’ The next thing you know, two more cop cars pulled up and then two cops on bikes.”
Miller said he phoned his father and was in the midst of an argument with him when things got out of control.
“I was swearing and said something about the damned pigs or these dumb pigs or something,” he said. “The next thing I know I’m being [beaten by police].”
He said two officers grabbed him while a third pepper sprayed him in the face.
“He kept hitting me, five times in the face,” he said. “I didn’t know what to do. I said, ‘why are you punching me?’ I grabbed them by the legs and we all went down.”
Miller was placed under arrest, charged with obstruction of a police officer and taken to the RCMP station, where he was allowed to wash out his eyes and then released on a promise to appear. He was also issued with a ticket for driving without insurance.
Miller conceded he has had run-ins with the police in the past, noting he was arrested seven months ago when police raided his home to take down a marijuana growing operation. However, he said he didn’t deserve to be beaten up.
“I didn’t instigate anything. Nothing,” he said. “Maybe I shouldn’t have sworn to my dad about what was going on, but they had no right to do that to me.”
Oceanside RCMP Staff Sergeant Brian Hunter said he was not willing to comment on the incident until he has looked into it thoroughly.
“I want to talk to him before I talk to the paper,” he said. “However, it certainly warrants an investigation from the detachment.”
news@pqbnews.com
