Published: 2026-04-16

The Director of the Serious Incident Response Team (SiRT) found no reasonable grounds to believe a member of the Miramichi Police Force (MPF) committed a criminal offence during an arrest.

On September 21, 2025, MPF received a call from an employee of a gas station in Miramichi regarding a customer who was parked at a gas pump and refusing to move her vehicle. The first officer on the scene spoke with the customer, an adult woman, who was refusing to move her vehicle or provide identification. She was not complying with the officer’s commands and started to roll up her window. The officer then opened her vehicle door, stated she was under arrest for obstruction and mischief and began to physically move her out of the vehicle. The woman resisted arrest and the officer, along with another who arrived on the scene, used force to remove her, secure handcuffs, and guide her to the police vehicle. After she was handcuffed, she was searched and guided by her left wrist into the police vehicle. At this time the woman claimed her wrist was broken and resisted getting into the police vehicle. The officers were able to get her inside the vehicle, and transported her to the Miramichi Detention Centre, where she was assessed by paramedics. She was ultimately admitted to hospital for other reasons and later diagnosed with a fractured wrist.

The New Brunswick Police Commission (NBPC) received a complaint on October 21, 2025, which alleged that a police officer from the Miramichi Police Force (MPF) broke her wrist during an arrest. The NBPC forwarded the complaint to the Chief of MPF on October 23, 2025. MPF contacted SiRT on October 27, 2025 and an investigation was started.

SiRT is responsible for investigating all matters that involve death, serious injury, sexual assault and intimate partner violence or other matters of a public interest that may have arisen from the actions of any police officer in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Investigations are under the direction and control of an independent civilian director, who has the sole authority to determine if charges should be laid at the conclusion of an investigation.

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Khalehla Perrault
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Email: Khalehla.Perrault@novascotia.ca