No grounds for charges against officer after woman's arm broken during arrest: Police watchdog

Manitoba's police watchdog says there no grounds for charges against an RCMP officer after a 64-year-old woman's arm was broken during her arrest in Beausejour, Man.

The woman was arrested on April 30, after she allegedly threw items around a convenience store and went outside to lie down in a roadway.

The 64-year-old was arrested under the Intoxicated Persons Detention Act. When an RCMP officer attempted to handcuff her, she pulled her arms away, according to the Independent Investigation Unit of Manitoba.

The unit investigates all serious incidents involving on- or off-duty police officers in the province.

After she pulled away, the officer applied an arm bar a wrestling hold to the woman, trying to take her to the ground, the IIU said in a news release Thursday.

"While doing so, the officer felt a pop from her right elbow area as he handcuffed her," the release states.

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The woman was examined by paramedics at the RCMP Beausejour detachment and then taken to the Beausejour Health Centre, where medical staff diagnosed a broken right arm above the elbow and admitted her for a mental health assessment, the IIU says.

The IIU investigation included interviews with two civilians who witnessed the arrest and an interview with the injured woman, who had "no memory of how or when her arm was injured," the release states.

The IIU's civilian director, Zane Tessler, concluded there are insufficient grounds to believe the officer used excessive force in arresting the woman.