A 16-year-old Laval teenager alleges that the city’s police force broke her nose after an arrest on March 24.
She also allegedly received two black eyes and a concussion.
The teen was leaving a house party in Chomedey when police received a call about damage to cars.
She received tickets for being drunk and insulting a police officer and ended up in hospital.
Her family suspects racial motives.
“If my daughter looked more like me, if she was white, maybe it wouldn’t have happened,” said her mother.
The police force said that people in the neighbourhood called to report someone damaging cars.
When they tried to handcuff her, they said that she fell and hit her face.
Alain Babineau, a former police officer who is now an advisor with the Centre for Research Action and Race Relations, said the situation shouldn’t have called for violence.
“I can’t imagine how that amount of force was used for the possibility of property damage,” he said.
The 16-year-old was fined $140 and will appear in court.
She hopes to take her case to the Civil Rights and Police Ethics boards.
