RCMP Watch

(250 News) A  young  man from Prince George will be  receiving some compensation from the RCMP but  it took  some real effort to make it happen.

20 year old Colin Macaulay was looking for some answers as to why a Stony Plain  RCMP officer punched holes in his stereo system.  The officer  told the young man  it was a drug search, but failed to  tell the 20 year old  he had  destroyed the young man’s $36 hundred  dollar stereo system.

The incident happened earlier this month when Macaulay was heading back to  his welding job in Calgary.  He had planned  on  taking the Jasper-Banff highway, but  decided against that  because of the poor road conditions.  Instead, he  decided to head t to Edmonton on Highway 16  then south to Calgary on  highway 2.

Here’s how the events unfolded according to  a statement  Macauley  provided to Opinion250:

” On November 6, 2007 while driving from Prince George BC to Calgary AB where I currently work, a RCMP officer pulled up beside me in the fast lane just before the turnoff to Stony Plain.

The officer looked at me through my driver side window and then dropped back behind my vehicle to pull me over. When I pulled over, the officer drove in front of my vehicle and parked. He then proceeded to my passenger door. The first thing the officer asked me was for license and registration. After I gave them to him he asked “why do you have so many air fresheners in your rearview mirror?”  I replied, “Because I enjoy the smell of coconuts”.  I have 4 air fresheners in my mirror. The officer replied “I suspect you of trafficking narcotics please exit your vehicle with your hands in front of you and place your hands on the top of your hood”.

I did exactly what I was told to.

The officer then searched me and asked, “Do you have any pointy objects or anything that would harm me or yourself. I replied yes, “I have a leatherman on the right side of my belt”. The officer removed it, my cigarettes, and, my lighter. I was then asked to get in the back of his police car.

From the back seat of his police car, I could see the officer looking through my dirty laundry. He then took my keys out of the ignition, which was turned off, and used them to open my trunk. After about 15 min which felt like eternity the officer came to the back of the police car and opened his trunk. He then proceeded to the trunk of my car carrying a black Rubbermaid type of suitcase that I felt him take out of his trunk.

I watched him go to the back of my car again. This took about 10 min before he returned to the trunk of his police car with the Rubbermaid suitcase.

He then sat down in the driver’s seat and said through the sliding window “I searched the vehicle for narcotics and found nothing. I pulled you over for driving 133 in a 110km zone”.  I asked, “Can I have a copy of the search warrant?” He said, “There is no need because I did not find anything inside of your car”. The officer then gave me the speeding ticket, cigarettes, lighter, and my leatherman through the sliding window of his police car. Then I was released.

I got back into my car and started it up. I had to sit in the driver’s seat until my hands stopped shaking. After my nerves were under control I wondered what the officer was doing in the trunk of my car for so long so I opened it up and found that my subwoofers were both destroyed and so was my amplifier. These were given to me for my birthday from my brother. ”

Opinion 250 contacted the RCMP in Stony Plain to ask why Sergeant Brian Topham (who had pulled Macaulay over) had not told Macauley that he had destroyed his sound system. Staff Sergeant George Harper, (Topham’s superior ) said that he didn’t believe what was being said by Macaulay and refused to discuss the matter.

We then contacted  Inspector Blake who said that on occasion, police officers had done damage to people’s personal property and there is a fund set up to pay for that damage. He said he would look into the matter.

The stereo system was purchased from a local Prince George stereo shop at a cost of $3,609.07 cents. As Macaulay has pointed out, it was purchased by his brother as a 20th birthday present.

Macaulay says he has never been arrested in connection with possession of any drugs and as a matter of fact had passed a drug test in Calgary in order to secure his employment.

It is interesting to note that following the search, Sergeant Topham hands Macaulay a speeding ticket. On examining the ticket (see photo at right) it is evident that the alleged speed has been changed by the RCMP officer before being presented to Macaulay.

On Thursday November 15th, Opinion250 received a call from an Alberta RCMP officer informing us that he had been in contact with Colin Macaulay to inform him the damage done to his stereo  system will be paid for by the RCMP.  Macauley is to get an estimate and submit it to the Police .