Vancouver Police Officer Smashes Driver's Window After Refusing to Tell Him Why He is Under Arrest

By Cassandra Fairbanks
The Free Thought Project
Mar. 30, 2015

Vancouver, Canada– A video uploaded to YouTube on Thursday, by a user named Bodhi Sattva, captured a very troubling scene that transpired on November 6, 2014. The footage captured an enraged officer refusing to tell the driver why he was being placed under arrest, verbally abusing him, and ultimately smashing the man’s window and yanking him from the vehicle.

The video begins with the officer already at the window for a traffic stop. Seconds into the video the officer begins to get aggressive with the driver by banging on the car and calling him a moron.
“Hit the brakes, you moron,” the officer, identified by the YouTube user as Sergeant Christiansen, shouts.
The driver asks why he has been pulled over, and the officer begins to demand that he open the door to the vehicle. A back and forth ensues between the driver, who is simply asking why he is under arrest, and the officer who refuses to answer while demanding the man step out of the vehicle. Eventually the officer claims to smell marijuana, which a second officer confirms.
“I asked him several times why I was being pulled over, he would not tell my why and before I knew it, he was pulling out his baton, threatening and intimidating me to get out or he was going to smash my window. He did this without telling me why he pulled me over,” Sattva wrote.
Less than a minute and a half into the video the officer smashes the window on the driver who was calmly trying to get an explanation.
“I was physically assaulted and it has left me emotionally traumatized. I do not feel safe anymore, I'm living in fear now. I was given a road side examination and I was found not be impaired or under the influence. What happened that night was a violation of my constitutional rights. I don't deserve to be treated this way, no one ever does,” he continued on to say.
According to the Vancouver police, the driver was charged with possession of a controlled substance, possession for the purposes of trafficking and obstructing a police officer.

Sattva admits he was in possession of the plant and explained himself in a blog post.
“The officers found marijuana in the vehicle, I am prescribed cannabis for medical purposes and was licensed under the MMAR. I did not sign with the MMPR as there was no way that i can afford to purchase my medicine at a ridiculous 400% increase in cost. I have been waiting for the pending verdict for the constitutional challenge. I have not been given reasonable access to a reasonable supply of medicine, thus violating my constitutional rights and greatly affecting my health and the quality of my life.”
CBC reached out for the department who refused to comment citing that it is still ongoing before the courts, however, they reportedly told the media outlet that “if drivers don’t want their windows smashed, they should just co-operate with the police.”














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