Chateauguay police launch inquiry after family pepper-sprayed during traffic stop
Aftermath of incident captured on mobile phone recording by mother
A father in Chateauguay, Que., says he was pepper-sprayed by a police officer last week after picking up his two daughters for school, and he's demanding answers.
The aftermath of the incident was captured on a mobile phone recording by John Chilcott's wife, Rosemarie Edwards.
The video shows their two daughters, aged 7 and 10, telling their mother their throats hurt.
"It's in my throat," one says.
"It went in your throat?" Edwards asks her.
"Yeah," the daughter says.
Edwards is then heard telling the officer: "You sprayed my kids with pepper spray."
An officer is shown on his radio and talking to Chilcott, who is still sitting in the driver's seat of his truck and rubbing his eyes.
"Excuse me, I'm asking you a question, sir," Edwards says.
"You just pepper-sprayed my children. It's not right. They were present in the car."
Did nothing wrong, says Chilcott
In an interview Tuesday, an often emotional Chilcott told CBC News that he had just arrived home to pick up his daughters and drive them to school when the officer pulled up behind him in the parking lot of his residence.
He said he had noticed the officer do a U-turn and begin to follow him as he was heading home to get them.
Chilcott said his two daughters were already in his truck by the time the officer approached and asked Chilcott for identification.
"I asked [the officer] 'What's the problem? As you can see I'm taking my kids to school. They're running late. I didn't break any law,'" Chilcott said.
The officer asked him once again for identification, but Chilcott did not comply, saying he wanted to know why.
Chilcott said the officer stepped away to speak on his radio, then returned and drew a canister of pepper spray from his holster.
'We all started screaming'
"I asked him what's the problem and he [sprayed me] in the face… it got in my daughter's face, in my other daughter's face and their throat. We all started screaming. I'm blinded," Chilcott said.
Chilcott was helped out of his car as other officers arrived on the scene and was taken to a police station nearby.
"I'm screaming because nobody's giving me any attention to get this stuff out of my eyes," Chilcott said.
At the station, Chilcott said police helped him rinse his eyes and then released him with no information on why he'd been pulled over.
Last Friday, he received three tickets in the mail totalling more than $1,000 – one for using his hazard lights unnecessarily, one for not immediately stopping his vehicle for police and one for "obstructing the action of a peace officer."
Chilcott wants answers
Chilcott maintains that he didn't do anything wrong and says he wants answers.
"I feel like I was treated like an animal," he says.
Chilcott says it's not the first time he's been pulled over by police. While he says he can't say for sure why he has been targeted, he speculates it may be "the way I dress, my complexion."
"I've just had enough of this," he says. " I just ask for something to be done, so me and my family can live in peaceful justice because this was not right what happened to us."
Both Chilcott and his wife said the incident has had a profound effect on their children.
"My daughter can't sleep. She asks me every time, 'Daddy are you OK?' When I'm leaving for work, she asks, 'Daddy, are the police going to bother you again?'"
Edwards said it's affected how their children see the police.
"I fear for my kids," she said as she wiped away tears. "Officers are supposed to protect."
Police defend officers, say inquiry underway
Chateauguay police defended the actions of their officers on Tuesday, saying Chilcott was stopped after committing a number of traffic violations.
Its officer resorted to pepper spray because Chilcott did not identify himself and offered resistance, the police force said.
Chateauguay police said an internal inquiry is being conducted into the case.