By roger knoxMorning Star Staff Jul 06 2007 http://www.vernonmorningstar.com/
A Vernon couple intends to lodge a complaint against RCMP after what they say was uncalled-for aggressive behaviour, which included the use of a Taser, at the Funtastic beer gardens. Bill Munger and Trina Garnot, joined by a couple from Prince George, plan on filing complaints, and Munger is contemplating legal action after he ended up in cells, charged with uttering threats. “I’m definitely going to be speaking to a lawyer,” said Munger.
The incident in question occurred Sunday night. Munger and Garnot, plus the Prince George couple, had enjoyed a dinner out. They went to Munger’s home before heading up to the army camp, arriving at the beer gardens at around 11:30 p.m. Munger, who said he had two drinks at dinner, and three at the beer garden, was leaving with his group at close to 2 a.m., when he claims a male officer started knocking drinks out of patrons’ hands. “We were about 40-to-50 feet away from the exit when he came in and started knocking and ripping drinks out of peoples’ hands,” said Munger. “When he grabbed Trina’s drink, which she was holding close to her chest, he kind of pushed to the side. I said, ‘what are you doing?’ and he said ‘get the f--- out of here now.’
“Trina’s my spouse and I’m not going to let anybody touch my woman like that. I told him to back off, that he didn’t have to be that rude. He was being really aggressive. I can understand the situation, that there are a lot of drunk people there, but not everyone’s a belligerent drunk. He shouldn’t have been that aggressive.” The group proceeded to leave the premises, running into another pair of officers outside the beer garden’s gate. Munger states the officers asked about the incident inside. He admits raising his voice to the officers when he was explaining what had happened, that somebody had the potential to get hurt, whether it was the officer or someone else. Munger said he was told to calm down, and was told by the two officers to “have a good night.” Munger claims what happened next, as his group was leaving the site, was that two officers grabbed him from behind and tried to place him in handcuffs. “I was trying to get away but they kept telling me ‘you’re under arrest,’” said Munger. “I said ‘I’m not going anywhere’ and resisted the arrest. They went to grab my hand, I pulled it back, and then I was tossed onto the ground.
“I had an elbow in my throat, they were punching me in the side of the head and then they used the Taser on me.” The male from Prince George, named Kevin, was also arrested, and Kevin’s partner, a woman named Crystal, was told to ‘get out of here or she’ll be arrested,’ claims Munger. Crystal was subsequently taken into custody. “Crystal was slammed into the paddy wagon, I saw that while I was sitting in there,” said Munger, who was taken to cells. Munger claims he asked what he was being charged with but wasn’t informed of the charge until he was in cells. “The guy who was knocking the drinks out of people’s hands was the guy who charged me with uttering threats. He said, ‘anyone who tells me to drop my badge, I consider that a threat against me,’” said Munger. “If they were going to charge me, they should have done it at the site.”
Munger was in cells for more than eight hours before being released. He said he suffered a sore neck, and is slated to appear in court in September. Vernon RCMP Cpl. Henry Proce said Munger is well within his rights to lodge a complaint with the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP. “The file will end up in our office and it will be duly investigated,” said Proce. More than 50 people were arrested by police over the weekend, with the majority linked to Funtastic activities.
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