People are asking how Prince George Loss prevention officers and an off-duty RCMP officer responded to a recent incident involving two Indigenous girls at a Save-On-Foods store.
Video captured by a shopper and provided to Global News shows two girls falling to the ground as a plainclothes police officer pins them to the ground. The video shows one of the girls trying to break free from the man's grasp and yelling “let me go.”
Chase Bullerwell, who was with the two girls, said the incident was disturbing.
“The punishment is too severe for the crime that happened,” he said. “I don't think they need to do it. It's horrible and it shouldn't have happened.”
The incident happened on May 21 at the Save-On-Foods supermarket at Pine Centre in Prince George.
Blewell, 15, told Global News he was with the two girls when one of them allegedly walked out of the grocery store without paying for a bag of cookies.
He said he didn’t realize one of them was suspected of stealing until the loss prevention officer caught up with them and asked them to return the cookies to the store and for the girls to follow him.
“Finally, he got fed up with her not coming with him, so he grabbed her; put his arms around her and even put his arms around her neck, like strangling her,” Blewell described. “You could hear the fear and pain she was going through. She was afraid for her life.”
Courtney Lank was shopping on May 21 when the girls' screams caught her attention.
She accused the police of using excessive force.
“They could have accomplished their theft prevention mission without using violence or aggressive means. So, to me, I realized they had exceeded their authority and caused harm in trying to stop a three-dollar theft,” she said.
Raising the issue of racial profiling
Although Blewell was with the two girls, he noticed that he was not thrown to the ground like them.
“I think they were probably shot because of their race, not because of me or any of the other people involved,” he said.
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His mother, Kelsey Pattie, believes he is being treated differently because of his looks.
“I have no doubt that if my son wasn’t a handsome, blue-eyed, white-skinned boy, he would have fallen to the ground with those girls,” she said.
When Vanessa Williams heard blood-curdling screams inside the store, she began documenting the incident.
She said as an Indigenous woman she has experienced racism while shopping in Prince George.
“Any store I walk into, I'm always followed because of the color of my skin. I try not to let it bother me, but for my children, I will stand up to it,” she said.
“I saw a young Aboriginal girl panicking and I felt so much for her. I know how she felt and it's just a shame that more people didn't stand up for these kids.”
Patty said theft is a crime, but police could have treated the girls with empathy.
“We could have pulled her aside and explained to her, 'We know you're hungry and we're happy to help you. But, taking something just because you need it is unacceptable.' I wish we would have asked these kids why they were stealing food instead of condemning them for it,” she said.
Global News has learned that two 12-year-old Indigenous girls are being cared for by government agencies; one of the girls has the intellectual and emotional skills of an 8-year-old.
Save-On Foods Defense Action
In a statement to Global News, Save-On-Foods said it was aware of the May 21 incident.
“When our Loss Prevention Officer (LPO) requested the return of the stolen product, the LPO was assaulted by members of the gang outside of the store,” it read. “The alleged theft and assault have been reported to the Prince George RCMP, who anticipate filing criminal charges for theft and assault against the shoplifters.”
Save-On-Foods did not respond to follow-up questions from Global News.
Prince George RCMP told Global News they will not be laying charges.
“We did not have sufficient evidence to submit a report to the prosecutor to recommend charges in this investigation,” said Corporal Jennifer Cooper. “The evidence we received from the loss prevention officer simply did not meet the threshold for charges that we would recommend to the prosecutor.”
Less than a minute into the video Williams shot on his cellphone, an off-duty officer stands over one of the girls and yells, “Officer, you're under arrest.”
Blewell said he was confused but initially hopeful when officers suddenly intervened.
“I thought she was here to help us. But in reality, she was just sitting on my friend or kneeling on my friend, causing her more harm,” he said.
Rank witnessed the incident and believes the off-duty officer made the situation worse.
“When she joined in, she knelt on the teen's ankles to help restrain her. So instead of helping resolve the situation by de-escalating and calming the teen and handling the situation appropriately, she put the weight of a third adult on the child, further distressing the teen,” she said.
She added that she was speaking out because she wanted to see better training for police and security personnel.
“There are a ton of trauma training and nonviolent interventions out there that don’t involve this level of aggression,” Rank said.
“I think there needs to be training and increased accountability to provide safer care and better protect the community.”
Prince George RCMP defended the officer's actions.
“She used a control technique and was able to quickly handcuff the individual, which was part of what she was there to do. The situation was resolved quickly after she rendered assistance,” Cooper said.
When Global News asked Cooper to respond to allegations that the officer did not use a trauma-informed approach and escalated the situation, she said both the officer and the loss prevention officer received proper training.
“This video only shows a small portion of what happened on the day when the loss prevention officer first encountered the teen. We shouldn't try to make inferences about what happened when we only saw a small portion of it,” she said.
Shocked, but moving on
Patty said she has been in touch with the girls' foster family.
“From what I understand, they are in shock. They don't want to talk about it. They want it all to go away,” she said.
At the end of the cellphone video, a woman in a Save-On-Foods uniform can be seen comforting and holding one of the girls while she cries in her arms.
Witnesses told Global News they were speaking out about the incident because they want accountability and want to see changes in the way police and security guards are trained.
