Dentist alleges sheriff beat her during highway traffic stop
An Edmonton dentist alleges she was physically and sexually assaulted by an Alberta sheriff after he pulled her over on the highway for speeding earlier this month.
Simona Tibu, 41, said she feared for her life during the incident. Photographs provided by Tibu show her in hospital with dark bruises and deep scrapes all over her face and elsewhere on her body.
“I’m not afraid because I did nothing wrong,” Tibu said Monday. “I shouldn’t be beaten for speeding.”
Tibu said she was driving from her home in Camrose to her dental office in Edmonton around 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 3, when a sheriff on a motorcycle stopped her on Highway 21 for speeding.
The sheriff hit her car window “violently,” she said, and when she threatened to record their encounter on video, he knocked the cellphone out of her hand. She said he then ordered her out of the car, where he hit her breasts and held her against the trunk of her car.
Tibu said she could feel his groin against her, and that when she tried to push him away, he got “very mad” and hit her repeatedly on the head, then smashed her head onto the road while she was handcuffed.
Tibu said a passerby stopped and called 911. RCMP spokeswoman Josee Valiquette said the sheriff also called RCMP officers for backup.
The incident ended when RCMP and Camrose police arrived, and Tibu was taken to hospital.
Alberta Justice and solicitor general spokeswoman Michelle Davio says the allegations against the sheriff are being investigated by RCMP and professional standards investigators, and that he remains on duty.
Valiquette said the criminal investigations of Tibu and the sheriff will be handled by different RCMP officers.
Tibu said she was charged with resisting arrest after the incident, but Davio could not confirm that a charge had been laid against her.
Tibu said she has hired three lawyers to handle her case.
“He believed that I’m a poor immigrant, and because I stood up for myself … he decided to teach me a lesson,” she said. “He chose the wrong person to fight with.”
Tibu said if the officer is not suspended by Thursday, she will hold a protest.
Valiquette said RCMP cannot release any details of their investigation into the incident.