Force wasn’t excessive during arrest: watchdog

Officers from Central Saanich and Victoria did not use excessive force in an arrest that left a woman with a broken shoulder, according to B.C.’s police watchdog.

The Independent Investigations Office, which investigates police-involved deaths and major injuries, released its report into the 2017 arrest on Thursday.

Police were called about 11:45 p.m. on July 25, 2017, after a woman walked into a Victoria business and stole a tip jar.

An employee followed the woman and demanded she return the tip jar, the IIO report says. The woman smashed the jar and threw a cup of milk on the employee, then started screaming and hitting the employee on the head.

When an off-duty Central Saanich officer came to the employee’s aid, the woman hit the officer with a pair of heeled shoes, leaving him with a wound that required stitches.

Witnesses said as the officer brought the woman to the ground, she flailed around, and that it was her frantic movements — and not the force used by the officer — that contributed to her injury.

Three Victoria police officers arrived on scene and took the woman to police cells.

The investigators interviewed five civilian witnesses, the officers who made the arrest and two witness officers, and reviewed surveillance video and medical records.

The report concluded that the Central Saanich officer used a reasonable amount of force to defend himself and that the three Victoria police officers simply came to his aid.