Two people are suing the provincial and federal governments after RCMP raided the wrong suite during a 2019 manhunt for a suspect in the shooting of a Transit Police officer.
The lawsuit, filed in the Supreme Court of B.C., names the solicitor general of B.C. and the federal attorney general and is seeking a variety of damages for mental distress, physical injuries and property damage stemming from the raid.
RCMP members conducted the raid at a fourplex in the 7500 block of Boundary Road at about 5:30 a.m. on Feb. 3, 2019. It was the end of a four-day manhunt for Daon Glasgow, who was later convicted of shooting Transit Police Const. Josh Harms at the Scott Road SkyTrain station.
The two plaintiffs, who have filed separate claims, were living together in one unit of a fourplex. Glasgow was hiding out in one of the “other units” in the fourplex, and the two plaintiffs say in their claim that they did not know him, nor did they have any dealings with him.
“The plantiff was abruptly awoken by repeated ramming and the ultimate breaking of the bedroom window in the suite by the arrest team,” reads the notice of claim for one of the plaintiffs. “The plaintiff believed the suite was being burgled and was terrified.”
The pair say they had guns pointed at them and were yelled at by officers who did not identify themselves, reads the claim. They were taken outside, where they were met with blinding floodlights and a “military-style tank” and more officers, they allege in their claim. The female plaintiff says in the claim that she was taken out of suite in her underwear and a “skimpy” shirt.
The pair say they were taken barefoot across “snow and debris” and had to walk like that for one block.
“The plaintiff’s feet and shins were cut and bruised by the debris,” reads the claim.
The two plaintiffs say they taken away to the Burnaby RCMP detachment but weren’t allowed to bring warmer clothes or any personal belongings.
While being detained by police, the claim says the pair overheard officers saying the raid had been a “shit show.”
The claim says the pair had to later check into a hotel, but when the pair were finally allowed to go home, they arrived to find the home had been damaged by police and was “uninhabitable.”
The claim says police did not board up the broken window and that the suite had been “contaminated” with tear gas and pepper spray.
One plaintiff now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, including panic and depression, as well as breathing problems after inhaling tear gas and pepper spray, the claim says.
Both plaintiffs say in the claim that the fourplex had been under surveillance and that police should have known the pair were living in a different unit than the suspect.
The allegations have not been proven or tested in court.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
