Update 4:30 p.m.
Kamloops RCMP have confirmed no charges have been laid in the arrests caught on camera, despite drugs being found at the scene, outside city hall.
Police said an officer was on patrol when he saw a man in a white vehicle yelling at a woman and her dog.
The officer believed the situation was escalating when he saw the man exit his vehicle and step in.
The man was handcuffed for causing a disturbance. RCMP claim the man resisted and passed a bag to the woman with the dog.
The RCMP report states the officer saw another woman in the white vehicle with injuries to her face and was concerned the events could be connected to a shooting earlier that evening.
Police said the woman with the dog then tried to leave the scene with the bag handed to her by the first suspect. The report reads, “When the officer attempted to retrieve the bag from her, she allegedly positioned her dog between them causing it to bite the officer’s holster.”
At this moment the officer drew his pistol before the dog was handed off to a second woman who was filming the altercation.
RCMP said the first woman with the dog was arrested for obstruction. According to police, the woman resisted arrest and the officer’s handcuffs were tossed under a nearby picnic table. The officer maintained control while retrieving the cuffs.
“Our officers face countless risks every day and make split-second decisions, often based on extremely limited information,” said Superintendent Jeff Pelley, Officer in Charge of the Kamloops RCMP. “It’s important to understand the full circumstances of any incident, rather than rely on a social media video that may not provide complete context.”
The injured woman in the white vehicle was assessed for her injuries but was uncooperative with investigators.
From the incident, police seized 29.7 grams of suspected fentanyl, 5.9 grams of suspected methamphetamines, and small amounts of cocaine and crack cocaine.
Both the man, who is known to police, and the woman arrested were later released.
Original 12 p.m.
The woman who filmed the video of an RCMP officer making arrests in front of Kamloops City Hall is speaking out.
Tabitha Sabyan said the incident took place around 6:30 p.m. on July 31.
An officer with the name tag D. Tucker was caught on camera by Sabyan drawing first his taser and then his pistol at a woman and her dog near the city hall parking lot.
The video starts with Tucker over a man handcuffed on the ground next to the parking lot.
The officer then stands up and walks toward the woman with his taser drawn. He puts the taser away briefly before drawing his pistol when the large-breed dog barkedm prompting the woman to hand her dog to Sabyan.
“He went ahead and grabbed [the woman] and manhandled her the way that he did. He put her down on the ground and I wouldn’t hand him the handcuffs and that’s when he drug (sic) her on the ground to get the handcuffs.”
Sabyan said the officer claimed the arrest was for obstruction.
A white vehicle with another woman was said to be in the parking lot. A second video shows Tucker walk up to the camera and demand twice that the person filming, Sabyan, get out of his way.
“That’s when he grabbed me and said that I was under arrest for obstruction.”
Sabyan told Black Press the officer took and attempted to break her phone before putting her on the ground.
“He jumped on my back with his knees. That’s when everyone was telling him that I’m pregnant… I was in so much pain I was asking him to get off me and witnesses were yelling for him to get off me as well and finally he did.”
The female handcuffed in the video and the man first seen handcuffed on the ground when the recording started were both held until 5 a.m. the next day, according to Sabyan. Sabyan went straight to the hospital following the incident to ensure everything was OK with the baby.
“Everyone was released without papers and not being charged. Nobody got charged.”
Sabyan said she will be taking action against the officer.
“I really do plan on taking action against this, because I really believe that what [the cop] did wasn’t right. He didn’t even say sorry, at all. You’d think that a human who knows that you jeopardized an infant’s life would at least say sorry.”
Kamloops RCMP has not responded to a request for comments.
READ MORE: Kamloops RCMP officer draws taser, gun on woman at city hall
@thebrittwebster
brittany.webster@blackpress.ca
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