B.C. police watchdog investigating after woman says she was seriously injured in VPD arrest
CBC
B.C.'s police watchdog is investigating an arrest by Vancouver Police officers last summer that a woman says left her seriously injured and unable to work.
The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) says it is seeking witnesses in the incident, which happened around 5 a.m. on Aug. 12, 2023 near the corner of Howe and Pender streets in downtown Vancouver.
The civilian-led oversight body investigates all police-involved incidents that result in serious harm or death, whether or not there is an allegation of wrongdoing.
"The investigation continues and will determine whether any force used during the arrest was necessary, reasonable, and proportionate under the circumstances," the IIO said in a Jan. 17 news release.
Andreana Robinson says she had gone out with friends in Vancouver's West End neighbourhood and was walking to catch a night bus home early on Aug. 12 when she sat down at a table on Hydra restaurant's closed outdoor patio.
The 54-year-old told CBC News she was intoxicated that night and needed to rest her bad knee.
She was smoking a cigarette and drinking a can of alcoholic seltzer when a security guard for the building told her to leave. She says she refused, citing her injury.
Robinsons says two VPD officers arrived soon after and asked for her ID as she tried to explain why she had stopped, but the interaction escalated.
"When they arrested me, they tore my shoulder out of joint. And when it was happening, I was trying to tell them, 'I'm hurt, you're hurting me, please stop,'" she told CBC in an interview on Tuesday, noting she had never been arrested before that night.
"I was giving no resistance and just had my hands up."
Surveillance footage reviewed by CBC News shows Robinson appearing to comply at the time officers put her into handcuffs. There is no sound on the recordings, which are largely obscured by an awning.
Doctors say her shoulder was dislocated and her rotator cuff is severely torn, according to medical records reviewed by CBC News. Robinson says she is now waiting for surgery to fix the tear.
When asked for comment on the circumstances of the arrest, Sgt. Steve Addison said VPD was "not aware of the details" that prompted the IIO investigation.
"Due to the independence of the IIO's work, it would be inappropriate for the VPD to speak specifically about this case," he said in a Monday emailed statement to CBC News.
More ads could soon be coming to Toronto’s subway system.
The driver wanted in connection with a fatal hit and run on Highway 401 earlier this week has been identified, police say.
There are mixed feelings about the proposed Grays Bay road and port project, among people who live in nearby communities.
WARNING: This story details allegations of child abuse and includes graphic content.
Provincial police in Lambton County have charged a 23-year-old man with second degree murder following a death investigation that began this past Saturday.
The Newfoundland and Labrador government is forming a working group to tackle what it calls systemic issues in the justice system, but answers or solutions could still be months away.
A woman has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death in a 2024 fatal hit and run in Truro, N.S., where the victim was dragged down the street, a case that went unsolved for more than six months.
A stream of people showing up to a brightly lit front porch, each holding up a bottle of wine, spirits, or beer.
Sona Lakhoyan Olivier has been excluded from Quebec’s Liberal caucus for the duration of an investigation led by the National Assembly’s ethics commissioner, the party announced Thursday.
The head of the William Whyte Neighbourhood Association hopes a city plan to crack down on vacant properties leads to a transformation in his community.
Saskatchewan's justice minister is rejecting the latest legislative proposal from the NDP Opposition, one that the NDP says is a necessary check on government power.
The provincial government is proposing sweeping changes to citizen-led referendum questions that could put a stop to an active court case about whether it’s constitutional to ask Albertans if they agree with separating from Canada.
A proposal for a hydrogen-powered passenger rail connecting Calgary and Banff has been submitted to the federal government in the hopes of having it fast-tracked.