Baller Alert Entertainment & Lifestyle
A disturbing video has been released as part of a civil lawsuit, which shows a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer in Kelowna, British Columbia dragging a female nursing student down a hallway following a wellness check at her apartment. More shockingly, the officer is seen stepping on her head.
The lawsuit was filed by Mona Wang, a student at the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus in Kelowna on March 23rd. She is suing for physical and emotional abuse at the hands of RCMP Cpl. Lacy Browning. In addition, RCMP has launched a code of conduct investigation and a criminal investigation into the incident. Browning has since been placed on administrative duties according to a police spokesperson.
“An internal code of conduct and criminal (statutory) investigation is underway,” RCMP Staff Sgt. Janelle Shoihet confirmed in an email. “The RCMP will also be asking an outside police department to independently review the findings of our criminal investigation once completed.”
In the lawsuit doc, Wang says that on the evening of January 20th, she was experiencing mental distress, prompting her boyfriend to call the RCMP requesting a wellness check. Wang says that Browning responded and discovered her lying on her apartment’s bathroom floor and failed to provide medical assistance. The college student says that despite not being able to stand on her own, the officer demanded that she get up from the floor.
“Browning proceeded to assault the plaintiff by stepping on the plaintiff’s arm,” the lawsuit states. “Browning kicked the plaintiff in the stomach while the plaintiff was lying on the bathroom floor semi-conscious.”
At some point during the troubling encounter, Browning handcuffed Wang and proceeded to drag her out of the apartment, down a hallway toward the floor’s elevator while punching her in the face before ultimately detaining Wang without telling her what she was being detained for. Browning transported Wang to the Kelowna General Hospital for mental health assessment. Wang says that she suffered cuts, swelling, and bruising as a result of the encounter.
“As a direct, foreseeable, and proximate result of Browning’s reckless and unlawful actions, the plaintiff has suffered emotional distress, humiliation, shame and embarrassment, psychological and emotional trauma,” the lawsuit states.
Browning, however, claims that only necessary force was used to subdue Wang when she became violent during their encounter. In Browning’s statement of defense, filed on June 15th, she claims that Wang had a box cutter in her hand, though that allegation could not be proven in court nor in the footage. In her legal response to Wang’s claim, Browning denies she used excessive force to detain the student and take her into custody.
While the video footage does not capture the encounter inside of Wang’s apartment, it does appear to show Browning using excessive force by dragging the student down the hallway and then into the building’s lobby as other residents are coming and going. Wang is seen lying on the floor in only pants and a bra and does not appear to be moving. At one point in the footage, Wang is seen lifting her head, to which Browning steps down on her head, forcing it back to the floor.
In a further effort to clear her name, Browning also pointed out in her statement that Wang had a history of suicide attempts, and when she responded to the apartment, she found the young woman lying on the bathroom floor with empty bottles of pills and an empty wine bottle near her. She also claims that Wang was holding a box-cutting knife in one hand and had cuts on her arm and chest. Browning alleges that Wang became combative once she became responsive and began yelling that she wanted to be killed.
“The defendant Browning then struck the plaintiff several times with an open palm, which subdued the plaintiff sufficiently for the defendant Browning to successfully handcuff the plaintiff,” the legal response states. “The limited use of force by the defendant Browning was no more than was reasonable and necessary in the circumstances to both direct compliance as well as protect the plaintiff from further harm.”
Browning claims that she only detained Wang under the Mental Health Act. She says she only moved Wang to the front door because she wasn’t sure emergency responders would be able to access the building and because she didn’t feel comfortable leaving Wang alone.
Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran, who viewed the video for the first time on Monday night, told Daybreak South host Chris Walker, “It is really disturbing, and I think it just highlights the need for systemic changes. Dealing with mental health and addiction issues is not easy, but what I saw in that video was incredibly disappointing.”
Wang is seeking unspecified damages.
