'It's really humiliating': Calgary Kijiji seller wrongly detained in sting-like takedown seeks apology - Action News
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Calgary

'It's really humiliating': Calgary Kijiji seller wrongly detained in sting-like takedown seeks apology

A man wants an apology from Calgary police after finding himself mixed up and locked up in a stolen property bust.

Karl Menier thought he was meeting a buyer, but was actually the target of a police operation

Karl Menier says he was humiliated after being taken into custody by police in a very public takedown on 17th Avenue that never resulted in charges. (Dan McGarvey/CBC)

A man wants an apology from Calgary police after finding himself mixed up and locked up in a stolen property bust.

Karl Menier arranged to meet who he thought was a buyer for his high-end police radar detector, posted for sale through the popular classifieds website Kijiji.

But when he got to the agreed locationon 17thAvenue, a few blocks away from his home in Mission, he says threepolice vehicles came out of nowhere and he found himself at the centre of a scary takedown.

"It's terrifying, it's a terrifying event," said Menier, who said he was held and grilled by officers for about an hour Monday evening.

"They were bombarding me with questions, they threwme in the back of the van, they locked me down. I'm still really shocked and it's really humiliating, I've never been humiliated like that in public."

"I was panicking and I was really confused," he said.

Menier was selling a radar detector he says he bought in Red Deer earlier this year that police say is similar to one that had been stolen recently in Calgary.

"I bought the radar on Kijiji myself about eight months ago. It's a common radar detector, there's nothing unusual about it," said Menier, who moved to Calgary earlier this month.

Menier was trying to sell this Escort radar detector on Kijiji when he found himself the target of a police sting. (Karl Menier)

"I gave themmy home address. They could have come and met me here," he continued.

Menier says police didn't return his radarand he doesn't know when he'll get it back.

"A little apology would be really great. If police have suspicionsthey should approach people differently, not aggressively like that."

Recently, Calgary police completed operations targeting thefts from downtown parkades and residential break-ins,recovering stolen property including bicycles, documents, electronics andsports equipment.

Some of that propertywas recoveredthrough online classified ads.

Calgary police said they could notprovide an interview on Menier's case, but did say anyone who feels like they've been mistreated by police is encouraged to report their concerns to the force'sprofessional standards section.