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B.C. offender with lengthy criminal record suing RCMP officer

Ian Macdonald has a long history of being found guilty of being in possession of stolen goods, particularly electronics.
penticton-courthouse
The courthouse in Penticton, B.C.

A Penticton resident with a lengthy rap sheet is turning his attention to the police force, suing the RCMP for $16,500.

Ian James Macdonald, 41, is pursuing legal action against Cpl. Scott Van Every with the Penticton RCMP in Provincial Small Claims Court, alleging that he is owed for the pain and suffering from the "aggressive force" officers used in searching a residence he was present in, and allegedly taking all his personal belongings.

MacDonald is a notorious prolific offender, recently taken into custody in a notable incident after the police received a report of forcible confinement on Sept. 2, 2020. Penticton RCMP arrested him for allegedly holding his girlfriend against her will. He was charged with assault, uttering threats, failure to comply with a probation order and forcible confinement.

But the lawsuit against RCMP relates to a different matter. It was filed on Feb. 23, stating that on Aug. 8, 2018, during a search of a residence on Skaha Lake Road, he alleges he was "arrested and beaten up by three RCMP officers."

“Scott Van Every ... punched me in the head six times-ish. I was in and out of consciousness every time I was punched,” his allegation reads.

“They hit me in the head while I was on the ground. Van Every and two other team members were on top of me where Van Every himself was punching me … Saying, ‘Not so tough now are you, Ian!’”

From the alleged attack, Macdonald stated that his head was split open four to six times.

“There’s proof from doctor physical and emotional of the trauma and PTSD in which I live with every day because of what happened,” the lawsuit claims.

Macdonald said he now deals with trauma, vision issues, headaches, PTSD and had gone through “a lot of programming to help him get better," after the incident. He also gets scared when he sees police uniforms.

He further alleges that the RCMP team took all of his belongings, two bags full of clothing and one of the personal effects. Macdonald said that the items, including a silver chain, portable speakers, Samsung tablet and everything else he owned that were taken by police were not stolen and were his property.

Macdonald has a long history of being found guilty of being in possession of stolen goods, particularly electronics.

His lawsuit states he submitted the claim in hopes "something gets done about this RCMP officer that assaults people uses his power of authority to hurt people."

“The assault, aggressive force, misuse of tactical training (distraction strikes) pain and suffering, permanent scarring, physical and emotional damage. The trauma I have to relive every day. The damaged police can do and do do. I feel they can not be trusted. I'm scared of RCMP, we're supposed to be protected and feel safe,” the claim finishes.

Macdonald is seeking $10,000 for pain and suffering and $6,500 for what he claims were his legitimate belongings that were allegedly taken by officers.