North Vancouver RCMP arrest teenager caught on camera

North Vancouver RCMP say social media videos showing two officers struggling and handcuffing a teenager at McDonald’s Tuesday night don’t tell the whole story.

The videos posted on Instagram by user Blackvancouver on Thursday provide a detailed account of the events from the perspective of the person who recorded them.

That account says fast-food restaurant workers mistook the group of teenagers for another group involved in a Halloween riot. The staff called the police, who arrived and began questioning the teenagers.

The message says that the group cooperated with the police, and that the officers attacked the handcuffed girl after she asked them to go to the bathroom, because the police believed that she had not given them all the information they asked for.

An officer allegedly caught her “as soon as she raised her voice,” according to the publication, which says the officer stuck her head into the drinking machine and removed her shirt, exposing her breasts, while trying to restrain her.

In the video, several people can be heard screaming, with at least one repeatedly insisting, “He didn’t do anything.”

In a news release Thursday, North Vancouver RCMP gave a different version of events, saying they were called to the restaurant on Marine Drive to report “10-12 youths causing a disturbance by yelling and cursing at employees, making a mess and asking them to leave refusal”.

“One of the youths threw a chair,” added the police in the statement.

According to the police, the group between the ages of 13 and 15 was still inside the restaurant when they arrived. Officers asked them to leave, but some of the teenagers refused and “kept swearing and yelling,” police said.

“One of the youths repeatedly kicked an officer and was arrested for assaulting a police officer, obstructing, causing mischief and disturbance,” they added.

The mountaineers also complained that “some teenagers” interfered with them by giving them false names.

“We know that a short clip showing the end of the incident has been circulated on social media,” said Sgt. Peter DeVries, in note.

“We have obtained video surveillance of the entire incident, and while our investigation continues, our Youth Support Unit is taking the next steps to work with young people and their families in partnership with the North Shore Restorative Justice Society.”