Latest news with #SmithsFalls
CTV News
13-06-2025
- CTV News
Family of Smiths Falls, Ont. woman dragged by police in viral video wants to ensure she receives medical care
A Smiths Falls woman who was pulled from a police cruiser in a by an officer in a viral video appeared in court Thursday. CTV's Natalie van Rooy reports.
CBC
11-06-2025
- CBC
Family of woman seen dragged from police cruiser calling for justice
The family of a Smiths Falls, Ont., woman is demanding justice after a video surfaced online that appears to show the woman being dragged from a police cruiser and held to the ground after her arrest. The video, posted anonymously on social media, appears to show one of the officers dragging the handcuffed woman by her left leg from the back seat of Smiths Falls Police Service cruiser parked at a crosswalk. The officer then appears to pin the woman to the ground for about 20 seconds before pulling her to her feet and pushing her back into the car. Sarah Black, who told CBC she's the sister of the woman in the video, said she and her parents were distraught after seeing it. "It is absolutely heartbreaking to watch," Black told CBC. According to Smiths Falls police, the 29-year-old woman was arrested after officers were called to a business on Main Street E. where she was allegedly causing a disturbance, including acting belligerently and throwing a table against a wall. The same woman was suspected in an alleged assault that had occurred earlier that evening at a different location. Police said the woman was arrested and placed in the back of the cruiser where she began spitting and kicking a Plexiglas divider. The woman is facing one count each of causing a disturbance and uttering threats, and two counts each of mischief under $5,000, assaulting police and failure to comply with probation. She was scheduled to appear in court in Perth, Ont., on Wednesday. 'Officer should be ashamed' McKenzie LeClair has now come forward as the woman who captured the incident on video from a nearby window. "When I started recording I thought it was just going to be like any other arrest, and then I [saw] how the police officer handled her and my stomach just dropped," she said. LeClair posted the video on Facebook where it quickly gained traction and sparked outrage among some members of the local community. Black, who lives in California, said she heard about it from her mother. The family isn't contesting the woman's arrest, Black said, but they do want the police officers involved to be held accountable for how they handled the situation. "There is no reason that that kind of force was necessary in that scenario," said Black. Black explained her sister is a "complex person" who has a history of mental health and substance use issues that her family has been trying to help her manage for many years. "My sister needs help, not more trauma, and officers clearly need better training for mental health intervention if this is how they behave in these kinds of situations," Black said. "The officer should be ashamed." Incident under investigation Smiths Falls police Chief Jodi Empey confirmed in a statement that she has been made aware of the video circulating on social media. Empey said both officers who appear in the video have been placed on administrative duties pending an investigation, which will be handled by a different police service. "We have determined this matter to be an institutional conflict and therefore must refer it to another police service for investigation," Empey said. Smiths Falls police would not confirm which service will investigate the incident, and said Empey would not be commenting further. Black said she and her family are awaiting the results of that investigation. "We want accountability — proper accountability including a full and fair investigation — and if found in the wrong, we want the officer or officers responsible to be charged or fired if necessary," she said.
CTV News
09-06-2025
- CTV News
Video shows Smiths Falls police officer dragging arrested woman
Ottawa Watch Two Smiths Falls police officers have been moved to administrative duties after a forceful interaction with a woman in handcuffs was caught on camera.
CTV News
09-06-2025
- CTV News
Smiths Falls, Ont. police say it's aware of video showing arrest of woman Saturday night
Police in Smiths Falls, Ont. says it's aware of a video circulating on social media of an interaction between a suspect and an officer following an arrest in the town over the weekend. A 29-year-old woman is facing charges in connection to a disturbance in the community southwest of Ottawa on Saturday. Police said at approximately 9 p.m., officers were called to a residence on Lombard Street in relation to a complaint about a woman who had assaulted and uttered threats towards the occupant of the home. At approximately 11 p.m., police were called to a business on Main Street East. Police say the call was 'regarding the same female causing a disturbance, who allegedly threw a table hitting the wall and was belligerent to staff and customers.' 'Upon investigation, the female was arrested for causing a disturbance and mischief after determining the table was damaged as a result,' police said. Police say the woman was placed in the back of the cruiser. 'At that time, the female is alleged to have repeatedly spit and kicked through the open portion of the plexiglass divider where an officer then intervened,' police said. The woman is facing two counts of assaulting police, two counts of mischief under $5,000, two counts of failing to comply with probation, and one count each of causing a disturbance and uttering threats. She is scheduled to appear in court on Monday in Perth. 'Smiths Falls Police are aware of a portion of a privately recorded video of this incident made available to the public through social media,' police said. 'The investigation into this incident is ongoing and a further statement by the chief of police will be forthcoming once complete.' Anyone who witnessed the incident or circumstances prior to it are asked to contact Staff Sgt. Wilson at 613-283-0357. Police say the woman was assessed 'as a precautionary measure' by paramedics but refused any treatment.
New York Times
01-06-2025
- General
- New York Times
Do Patients Without a Terminal Illness Have the Right to Die?
One of the doctors wanted to know why, despite everything, Paula Ritchie was still alive. 'I'm just curious,' she said. 'What has kept you from attempting suicide since August of 2023?' 'I'm not very good at it,' Paula said. 'Obviously.' Then she started to cry. She said that everything was getting worse. She said she didn't want to suffer anymore. 'This is a more dignified way to go than suicide.' Paula was lying in the big bed that she had pulled into the center of the living room, facing an old TV and a window that looked out on a row of garbage bins. The room's brown linoleum floors were stained, and its walls were mostly unadorned. On a bookshelf, there was a small figurine of an angel, her arm raised in offering. At 52, Paula had a pale, unblemished face and a tangle of dark hair that fell around her waist. The day before the appointment, in January this year, she washed her hair for the first time in weeks, but then she was not able to lift herself out of the bathtub. When, after hours, she managed to get out, her pain and dizziness was so bad that she had to crawl across the floor. Dr. Matt Wonnacott sat in a folding chair at the foot of the bed. He was there as Paula's 'primary assessor': one of two independent physicians, along with Dr. Elspeth MacEwan, a psychiatrist, who drove through the snow to Smiths Falls, Ontario, to evaluate Paula's eligibility for Canada's Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) program — what critics call physician-assisted suicide. 'You're a difficult case,' Wonnacott admitted. Another clinician had already assessed Paula and determined that she was ineligible — but there was no limit to how many assessments a patient could undergo, and Paula had called the region's MAID coordination service every day, sometimes every hour, demanding to be assessed again, until the nurse on the other line had practically begged Wonnacott and his colleagues to take Paula off her roster. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
