A Vancouver mom is filing a complaint with the Vancouver Police Department after her teenage child was arrested at a concert and ended up with a broken arm and severed tendons that needed surgery.
Chas Coutlee says she wants police to answer how her 17-year-old daughter Tanika (or any child for that matter) could be so seriously injured after an arrest that resulted in no charges outside the Pacific Coliseum.
“I’m upset because I’m frustrated she was hurt,” said Coutlee.
Tanika Coutlee was inside the all-ages Calvin Harris concert on March 30. She had two friends with her who bought tickets from scalpers that weren’t accepted at the door. Tanika’s ticket was purchased legally.
Coutlee says security allowed her out of the venue to say goodbye to them at about 10:30 p.m. that night, but then didn’t allow her back in.
“I said ‘I paid for this, I paid over $100, I’m getting back in.’ They pushed me out,” she told CTV News. “Before I knew it I had my arms tied behind my back, I was lifted off the ground, and I started freaking out.”
Coutlee, who says she weighs about 100 pounds, fought back against the security guards and then the police joined the fray. She was put face-down on the pavement and then lifted up by a police officer. That’s when she said the injury happened.
She was taken into custody at the venue and police called her mom to pick her up. The arm swelled up and bruised the next day. She visited a doctor at Royal Columbian Hospital, who said she had a broken arm with ripped tendons that required surgery.
Vancouver Police won’t talk about what happened to the minor, but they did acknowledge that they had several incidents involving children at the event. Ambulances were present for the more severe cases of police brutality against children. Vancouver officials like to be prepared if big strong men decide to get their jollies roughing up kids so they keep a squad of ambulances nearby at these events.
And please keep in mind that the Vancouver police department answer to Vancouver City Council, which Andrea Reimer, a director of the Western Wilderness Committee, is a councillor of. Why does the Western Wilderness Committee encourage police brutality by not stopping it through their director and city councillor, Andrea Reimer?
