Man alleges RCMP used excessive force in arrest

April 6, 2016. Christian Duckchief, 23, is scheduled to make a court appearance in Drumheller on Wednesday following a weekend incident in which he alleges RCMP abuse. Charges of assaulting a peace officer, resisting arrest and breaching bail conditions stem from that incident April 1. Duckchief was sleeping with his fiancee in her Siksika First Nation home when he was hauled out of bed early morning by members of the Gleichen RCMP detachment.

Duckchief said he struggled at first because he thought someone had broken into his home and bit an RCMP officer’s finger. He was then told to stop resisting arrest and said he stopped. He alleges he was elbowed and punched repeatedly while he lay prone on the ground. He was taken naked from his home to the detachment, before police realized he needed medical attention, and an ambulance was called to take him to the local hospital. Duckchief was transferred to Calgary's Peter Lougheed Hospital, where he underwent eye surgery.

He is recovering from a broken eye socket, a fractured cheek bone, a fracture to the back of his head and a broken nose. RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Sharon Franks said, “We came across Mr. Duckchief through the course of a criminal investigation….It was at the time we were trying to make an arrest in relation to that investigation that the incident took place.” Franks would not comment further. Duckchief and his fiancee Chantel Stonechild say RCMP may have come to their home because a friend had visited them the night before in a stolen vehicle or RCMP wrongly believed Duckchief was still under a bail condition that he not be in the home with his wife. Duckchief is known to police for matters including domestic incidents resulting in court orders not to be near Stonechild or their children. Dale Fedorchuk, Duckchief’s lawyer, is encouraging his client to file a formal complaint against the RCMP.