Abbotsford police
recommend
assault charge
against RCMP officer
after teen girl
beaten during arrest
Teenager Jamie Haller sustained injuries after an arrest by RCMP in Williams Lake in September. Abbotsford Police investigated and an assault charge is recommended against an RCMP officer.
Photograph by: Submitted , for the TIMES
Abbotsford Police have recommended an assault charge be laid against a Williams Lake RCMP officer who allegedly punched a handcuffed teenage girl repeatedly in the face while she was in the back of a police cruiser last year.
Jamie Haller, 17, was running in fear from a Williams Lake street gang on the night of Sept. 10 and asked a passerby to call 911.
Jamie managed to call her mother, Martina Jeff, who jumped into her car and went looking for Jamie - who had never been in trouble with the law before.
When Martina found her, Jamie was surrounded by police officers, on the ground in handcuffs, and in the midst of a panic attack.
Jeff said she saw the police handle Jamie roughly as they put her in the back of a cruiser, where she began kicking the window.
Jeff said she heard Const. Andy Yung threaten Jamie if she didn't stop kicking the window.
He then joined Jamie in the back, where, Jeff said, she saw Yung repeatedly punch her daughter in the face.
This is not the first time Const. Yung has been accused of bad behaviour.
According to newspaper reports, Yung was assigned to security detail at a conference of defence ministers in Banff in Sept. 2008.
He was off-duty on the night of Sept 5, when he got drunk and called his ex-girlfriend from his hotel room. The call left him in tears.
Yung then fired a shot from his service pistol into the ceiling of his room at the Banff Springs Hotel. He called 911 and said he had accidentally fired his handgun.
The Ottawa Citizen reports that Yung had been illegally using the national police database to keep tabs on his ex-girlfriend.
At his disciplinary hearing later that year, Yung received a reprimand for disgraceful conduct and was docked five days' pay. In subsequent criminal proceedings, Yung was given an absolute discharge.
Jeff said she's surprised Yung is still working as a police officer.
"It crosses my mind, why is he still on duty," Jeff told The Province on Wednesday.
Jeff, a single mom raising four teenagers, said Jamie "has been struggling" since the incident in the police car.
Jamie gave up her job at the local Dairy Queen and hasn't worked or been back to school since the assault, said Jeff.
"Her face swelled up" as a result of the attack in the back of the cruiser.
"She had braces and there was damage inside her mouth where the braces were," said Jeff.
Jamie needed work on her braces and Jeff has been forced to scrimp to pay for the dental bills.
"She tells me that she's scared of the police," said Jeff.
The gang members Jamie ran from that night "still harass us," said Jeff, who has moved her family to an undisclosed location out of concern for their safety.
"We've told [friends] not to let people know where we live."
Jeff, who still has trouble sleeping at night, said, "We're trying to get Jamie into a healing centre [on Vancouver Island] for six weeks of counselling."
Jeff said Insp. Warren Brown, commanding officer of the Williams Lake RCMP detachment, called her to reassure her the police will be there to help her if she needs it.
In a prepared statement Brown said "I am disappointed to learn that a charge of assault is recommended against one of my constables."
He added he commends his staff "for their high level of dedication and professionalism."
Because Yung has not yet been charged, the RCMP followed its normal policy of not releasing his name. He was has been placed on "non-operational duties," said the release.
David Eby, executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, said he was encouraged by the recommendation to lay charges against Yung.
"It's heartening for anyone who believes that police officers shouldn't be able to punch teenage girls while they're handcuffed," he said.
"I'm hopeful the RCMP will examine the conduct of this officer in light of this incident and his history, and evaluate whether he should be . . . wearing an RCMP uniform."