Mountie pepper sprayed in face during traffic stop

Jun 8, 2020 | 2:49 PM

An RCMP officer was pepper sprayed in the face by a female driver Saturday during a traffic stop on Highway 1, 20 kilometres east of Revelstoke.

The driver was later arrested.

On June 7, shortly after 9:30 a.m. a frontline officer with the Revelstoke RCMP conducted a traffic stop with a blue early 90s GMC Tracker, towing a white enclosed utility trailer for a Motor Vehicle Act violation.

“During the course of what started as a routine traffic stop, the driver deployed pepper spray at the police officer, while the officer interacted with the woman at her driver’s side window,” Cpl. Jesse O’Donaghey, spokesperson for the RCMP Southeast District, said. “While our officer was dealing with the temporarily disabling effects of the pepper spray, a male passenger exited the vehicle and the suspect fled the area eastbound along the highway.”

The police officer was treated at the scene and continued the investigation.

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It was determined the male runaway was a hitchhiker the driver picked up.

The suspect was located a few kilometres from the scene, near the Giant Cedars boardwalk.

“The woman, who was found inside the utility trailer, was emotionally distraught, uncooperative and failed to comply with police commands,” O’Donaghey said. “She was eventually physically taken into police custody. She was unharmed.”

A search of the suspect’s vehicle located a loaded crossbow, pepper spray and a knife.

A 26-year-old Maple Ridge woman remains in custody and faces a number of potential criminal charges.

The police investigation remains ongoing and police are seeking additional witnesses.

“This shocking situation highlights the inherent dangers that frontline police officers face each and every day they go to work,” Staff Sgt. Kurt Grabinsky, Revelstoke RCMP detachment commander, said. “This officer remained focused on her duty to protect and serve the public by continuing her investigation and relaying important details to other officers in order to safely apprehend the woman who posed a potential risk to herself and others.”

Anyone who witnessed the incident and has not yet spoken to police, or you believe you had an encounter with the woman prior you are asked to call the Revelstoke RCMP at 250-837-5255.

by Vernon Matters Staff

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