The RCMP logo is seen outside the force's 'E' division headquarters in Surrey, B.C., on Thursday, March 16, 2023. A British Columbia man who is suing the RCMP claims he walked naked out of his shower to find a female uniformed Mountie standing in his bedroom. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
COQUITLAM, B.C. – A British Columbia man who is suing the RCMP claims he walked naked out of his shower to find a female uniformed Mountie standing in his bedroom.
Kirk Forbes says the encounter in his Coquitlam home in June 2022 left him “shocked, confused and embarrassed.”
In a notice of civil claim filed in July, Forbes says it was only after he asked the woman why she was in his home that she identified herself as an RCMP officer, then asked him his name and said she was there to serve him a traffic ticket.
Forbes says he was unaware of any traffic violation.
In the lawsuit, Forbes alleges the RCMP officer and a second Mountie “abused their authority and power,” by walking into his home without his permission or a warrant to serve the ticket.
The Coquitlam Mounties say in a news release issued Tuesday they are aware of the claim and say officers entered “what appeared to be an insecure premise” to serve a traffic violation ticket.
They say the man raised concerns about the officers’ presence in his home, but police believed they had “dealt with those concerns informally” before the man initiated a formal public complaint.
The RCMP statement says the incident is now under investigation, which will include a review of documentation, radio transmissions, and the informal process they say happened.
Forbes says in his claim that after he got dressed and went to his living room he found the second officer searching his home and was told they had knocked on his door and “it had flung open” so they went in.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2023.
