MOUNTIE FACES FOUR COUNTS OF ASSAULT

A man whose daughter was manhandled during a police raid in Lillooet
earlier this year says he's glad one of the officers involved faces
criminal charges.

"You want professionalism out of the police. You don't want things to
get to the point where they can't protect themselves, but when you
have a grown man attacking ordinary girls like that, it's not right,"
Kevin Anderson said from Lillooet Wednesday.

An RCMP news release announced late Tuesday that Const. Daniel St.
Armand was charged with four counts of assault with a weapon after a
formal complaint was filed with Lillooet RCMP on March 1.

St. Armand will appear in court at a later date. He is currently on
administrative duty at another detachment, the release said.

The complaint was filed by Micheline de Strake, 19, who said St.
Armand tasered her in the spine during a drug raid at her apartment on
Feb. 5.

Anderson's 19-year-old daughter is best friends with de Strake and was
at the apartment attending a party for a friend who had just returned
from Australia.

While there were drugs at the party, the apartment was a long way from
being a crack house, he said.

"It was an extended crowd that night with some local yokels there. It
was mostly kids having fun," he said.

"The police came in like gangbusters. Whatever message they were
trying to send was way over what they should have been doing. They
totally intimidated these kids."

He said five officers kicked in the front door and pushed into the
apartment with tasers drawn. A barking police dog was right behind
them.

The constables yelled for everyone to get to the floor. An officer
straight-armed de Strake twice in the shoulder, sending her spinning
to the floor. Her great Dane-mix dog fought with the police dog and
bit a Mountie.

The Vancouver Province reported that her dog was hit with the taser
first and began squealing. The officer flattened de Strake to the
floor with his foot and tasered her in the spine, the newspaper said.

Anderson said his daughter was thrown to the floor and suffered a
swollen lip when her head bounced off another party-goer.

"It was like something you would expect to see if police went after
hardened criminals," he said.

Anderson met St. Armand at the local racquetball court a few times and
said he seemed like a pleasant enough guy.

"But this issue had to be addressed. I'm glad things are going the way
they are. It shows that the system is working," he said.

E-Division RCMP Cpl. Tom Seaman said the charges are a
disappointment.

"It's always upsetting when a fellow officer is charged with a
criminal offence, but we are no different than any other segment of
society. We are accountable for our actions," he said.

- -- with files from the Vancouver Province and the Lillooet News