A B.C. Mountie has officially been charged with assault for allegedly punching a teen girl in the face last year.
Williams Lake RCMP Const. Andy Yung is accused of beating 17-year-old Jamie Haller on Sept. 10. He has been placed on non-operational duties while the matter is before the courts.
The Abbotsford Police Department was called in to investigate the incident, and recommended the assault charge to Crown prosecutors earlier this week.
Haller claims she was being chased by gang members when she stopped a stranger on the street and asked her to call 911.
But the teenager says the officers who responded handcuffed her, roughed her up and put her in the back of a police car, where she alleges one officer repeatedly punched her in the face.
"I know he must have punched me more than six times," Haller told CTV News in September. "I felt so afraid of the cops, more than I was of the people who were chasing me."
Photos said to be taken after the arrest show Haller with a black eye, cut lip and bruises on the left side of her face.
Abbotsford investigators say the officer and alleged victim's versions of the events differ, and Haller has admitted that she started kicking at the cruiser's window in anger after she was detained.
