Miramichi, N.B., officer won’t be charged after woman’s wrist broken during arrest: SiRT

The Miramichi Police Force emblem is pictured. (CTV file)

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, according to a news release.

A woman issued a complaint to the New Brunswick Police Commission (NBPC) on Oct. 21, 2025. She alleged an officer from the MPF broke her wrist during an arrest.

The NBPC forwarded the complaint to the chief of MPF on Oct. 23, and the MPF contacted SiRT on Oct. 27.

The arrest was made on Sept. 21. SiRT says officers received a report of a customer at a gas station who was refusing to move her truck from the gas pump in Miramichi, N.B.

In her written complaint to the NBPC, the woman indicated she’d pulled into the gas station with an empty tank, parked, put her hazards on, and set a gas can on top of her vehicle.

She said she didn’t have the money to pay for the gas.

The gas attendant asked her to move her truck as others needed to use the pump, and she said without gas or money she couldn’t.

The attendant called Miramichi police as other customers couldn’t access the pump.

SiRT says the first officer on the scene spoke with the woman, who again allegedly refused to move or provide ID.

According to the police, she spoke over them and started to roll up her window.

The officer allegedly opened the vehicle door, told her she was under arrest, and began to physically move her out of the vehicle while she resisted.

“The officer, along with another who arrived on the scene, used force to remove her, secure handcuffs, and guide her to the police vehicle,” reads the release from SiRT.

The report says she was searched and guided by her left wrist to the officer’s vehicle, and at this point she claims her wrist was broken and resisted getting into the vehicle.

In her complaint, she says she felt and heard her wrist break. A report on the body camera footage worn by the officer at the time also states, “a crack noise can be heard and she yells, ‘You broke my wrist.’”

Officers took her to the Miramichi Detention Centre, where she was assessed by paramedics.

Her wrist is reported as being swollen at this point and she stated that she broke a bone in her left hand two months before. She was admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with a fractured wrist.

“Considering the actions of the AP, from refusing to cooperate with the police initially to actively resisting during her arrest, the physical force used to by the SO was reasonable in the circumstances,” reads the SiRT director’s summary of the investigation.

“After a careful review of the evidence and the law, I have determined that there are no reasonable grounds to lay a charge against the [officer].”

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