Unlawful Arrest

R. v. Barrow, 2011 ONCJ 239 (CanLII)

[2] The incident giving rise to both charges took place at a women’s shelter. Ms. Barrow was not a resident of the shelter and her presence was not welcome there. As a result, the police were called to intervene. The lone office who arrived on the scene found the defendant in the midst of eating breakfast. When the officer was unable to persuade Ms. Borrow to leave the premises immediately, she attempted to take physical control of the defendant without formally arresting her.

[3] The defendant was not compliant and resisted the officer’s attempt to take physical control over her. In the ensuing struggle, the defendant reached for the officer’s firearm. The firearm was loaded. The defendant had her hand on the firearm for a very short period of time before the officer successfully pried Ms. Barrow’s hand away. The gun never left the officer’s holster. With the assistance of staff members, the defendant was arrested for attempting to disarm the officer but not without incident. The defendant was verbally abusive and physically resistive. The defendant was never charged with trespassing.