A screenshot from video posted online Feb. 16 of an aggressive arrest by Red Deer RCMP at the Flying J in west Red Deer. (Video posted by Ashlyn Johnson )

By Troy Gillard

officer cleared for his actions

Pair arrested in viral video incident facing obstruction charges: RCMP

Feb 26, 2021 | 12:26 PM

(WARNING: This story contains profane language and violence)

Obstruction charges are pending against two people following an incident earlier this month that involved an aggressive arrest by Red Deer RCMP.

The incident has garnered a lot of attention since a five-and-a-half minute video of it was posted to YouTube by Ashlyn Johnson on Feb. 16. That video has had more than 55,000 views. (WARNING: Video contains violence and profane language)

It shows a male RCMP officer struggling to arrest an adult male in the parking lot of the Flying J truck stop at the west end of 67 Street. The officer pressed the uncooperative male up against the side of the vehicle he’d been a passenger in at the time of the incident.

“He asked you why you were speeding,” a female, believed to be Johnson, can be heard telling the officer. “Take your win and go.”

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“Why are you pulling me over?” the male asked after the officer had said he was obstructing him.

The physical struggle between the two men continued for about two more minutes before several police officers arrived to provide backup. Video shows the officers kneeing and elbowing the uncooperative male before tackling him to the ground.

The video ends with one of the officers confronting the woman recording the incident on video, who dropped her phone inside her vehicle as a result.

“I don’t want to hurt you. You’re under arrest,” the officer can be heard saying.

“You were f****** speeding and you pulled us over,” the woman can be heard yelling. “You’re all going to lose your f****** badges. Stop choking me.”

An additional three minute video showing what led up to the parking lot altercation had also posted online before being deleted. That video was reposted online this week by another Facebook user, however, and can be seen below after it was shared with rdnewsNOW.

The new video begins by showing the officer initiating a traffic stop during a red light at an intersection on westbound 67 Street.

“For what? Pull over for what?” the male passenger yelled out to the officer. “You got no reason. You can’t pull me over… bye, bye.”

The vehicle then pulled away with the officer still in pursuit with his police vehicle lights activated.

“I asked a question, if he was allowed to speed, and this is a power trip,” the male says in the video.

When the police officer came up beside the vehicle in the right hand lane, the male said to him, “Did we commit a crime? No,” before they pulled away again.

It was a few seconds later when the male convinced Johnson to pull over, which she did at the parking lot at the Flying J.

“He’s got no reason to pull us over,” he repeated on video. “I asked this cop a question. He was going 80 (kilometres per hour) through town.”

Once both vehicles were parked at the Flying J, the male got out and again asked the officer, “Why are you pulling us over?”

“I need to check who the driver is. That vehicle doesn’t belong to her,” the officer told him before asking him to get back inside the vehicle while he ran a query on the licence plate number.

When the male did not comply, the officer called for backup before repeatedly telling him to “get inside the vehicle” or he’d be arrested for obstruction.

“I haven’t committed a crime,” the male insisted.

“Yes you have, you are obstructing me,” the officer replied. He then asked the male three more times to get inside the vehicle.

The video then ends as the altercation between the two men begins.

Red Deer RCMP Inspector Holly Glassford tells rdnewsNOW that the arresting officer’s reason for speeding that afternoon was he was responding to a request for officer assistance at a high-risk call. Glassford says the officer resumed normal driving speed when his assistance was no longer required.

She explains that the officer’s query of the licence plate on the vehicle he pulled over initially revealed that the plate was mismatched. Once the licence plate was cleaned off and checked a second time, it was determined the female driver was the owner of the vehicle, Glassford confirmed.

Glassford says an internal review conducted by Red Deer RCMP determined the officer acted within the scope of his duties within the Traffic Safety Act.

Both the male and female involved in the incident were arrested and have charges pending against them for obstruction.

RCMP have not formally released or confirmed their names as charges have yet to be sworn in court.

The pair was released following the incident on promises to appear in court.