A Sechelt woman is awaiting answers from the RCMP after filing a complaint over an alleged Tasering and police brutality incident in 2006.
Terrie Thiessen, 35, said she was given nine separate jolts with a Taser after an altercation between her and another patron at the Lighthouse Pub on Oct. 21, 2006. After being subdued four times by Taser during her arrest, she said she was Tasered five more times while in custody overnight and injured from a police club held behind her knee.
Sunshine Coast RCMP are conducting an internal investigation, and detachment commander Staff. Sgt. Kevin Picard has informed Thiessen she'll be kept up to date on the status of the investigation until it's completed. Thiessen's complaint, filed on Dec. 10, 2007, is directed at Const. Melissa Trzecak and other officers.
Dale Schweighart, manager of the Lighthouse Pub, said he witnessed part of the altercation inside the pub that afternoon. He said Thiessen struck a man and was asked to leave but returned later that night and "went berserk" when asked to leave again.
"I know she was a real handful [for the RCMP] to deal with," he said. "She had all the options in the world to avoid confrontation." Schweighart said surveillance video taken inside the pub has been given to police and is now being reviewed under the investigation.
Thiessen asserts she fought back after being taken down from behind, before realizing she was fighting RCMP members. But her chief complaint is that she said she was doused with a bucket of water and Tasered while wet during her stay in custody, after refusing to surrender a ring she was wearing.
"It was painful, something I'd never wish on anybody," she said. "Literally, I thought I was getting electrocuted to death."Thiessen said she delayed filing a complaint in order to establish an ongoing medical file, something she said the RCMP asked her to include in her complaint. Thiessen said she has submitted MRI charts detailing the damage to her knee and has documented repeated visits to her doctor in advance of her upcoming knee surgery.
In the aftermath of the event, Thiessen said she's been receiving regular counselling at the mental health unit of St. Mary's Hospital. She said she plans to testify under the B.C. public inquiry into Taser use, announced by Attorney-General Wally Oppal in late November.
Sgt. Barry Meyer said he can't comment on the matter as it's under an internal investigation and could give no indication as to how long the investigation would take.
