A family in Cote des Neiges says police were unnecessarily aggressive with them.
The family was pulled over by police Friday morning on Cote des Neiges. Police say they were pulled over because the windows in the Chrysler 3000 they were driving were too darkly tinted.
CTV Montreal obtained the video from a courier who was on a delivery who recorded part of what happened on his BlackBerry.
The courier said when he arrived police were very physical in trying to subdue the woman.
That does not appear on the recording.
The video shows a woman on the ground, screaming. Two officers then haul her onto her feet.
"I just heard 'I'm going to arrest you,'" said Lafleur Spring, the woman who appears in the video. "I said 'what did I do for you to arrest me? I'm breast feeding my kid.' I said, 'I know I'm from the Carribean, but I never knew I was going to be arrested for breast feed my kid.' So, they tried pulling me out and then I didn't come out, and then she slapped me in my face. And when she slapped me in the face, I bit her on her finger, to let me go."
Lafleur Spring faces one charge of obstructing the work of a police officer and one of assaulting an officer. Her husband, Rainford Michael Jackson, faces one charge of obstructing the work of a police officer.
Police have a different version of the events.
They said when they approached the vehicle Jackson, Spring's husband, got out and behaved aggressively towards them. Police say they noticed the baby in Spring's lap that was not properly secured, and a second child in the vehicle not properly secured.
"If a person does not identify himself or herself, police officers have no choice but to use necessary force," said Laurent Gingras, a spokesperson for the Montreal Police.
"In this case, first to identify herself, which she apparently did not do. The second step is asking the person to come out to see if she has any ID. If she doesn't come out, officers are confronted with the fact that they need to use physical force to pull her out of the vehicle."
The family is considering legal action against the police. Jackson said he has been in Canada for 20 years, and while he has experienced harassment in the past, it was never to this level.
