Scanned, recopied or Internet copy, if there are errors, please e-mail me with corrections: Opening comments: More at the end. The Record (KITCHENER) - Jul. 27, 2007 - By Liz Monteiro, Record staff - Man sues after alleged strip search A civil suit has been launched against Waterloo regional police by a Kitchener man who alleges he was illegally arrested and strip searched. In a statement of claim filed with small claims court in Kitchener, plaintiff Jason Lamka, says he was targeted by police when they arrested him and charged him with public drunkenness in a Kitchener bar on Aug. 24, 2005. In the statement, Lamka alleges the police were "insulting, high handed, malicious and oppressive.'' The allegations suggest police arrested Lamka after asking him about four cartons of cigarettes he had with him. Lamka said he bought them at a native reserve near Kingston. Lamka was then brought to a police station where he said he was strip searched. Lamka was put in jail and released the next morning. Lamka is seeking $10,000 in compensation, says the statement. Davin Charney, a friend who represented Lamka in small claims court, said outside court police were motivated by bias and prejudice when they arrested Lamka, who is aboriginal. Charney said Lamka did not file a complaint with police. The trial, which was to have begun last week, was adjourned because of uncertainty around who would be representing Lamka. The trial likely won't go ahead for another 90 days. A date had not yet been set. The case was postponed because Charney, who is a law student articling with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association in Toronto, cannot act as Lamka's lawyer. Charney said he will investigate if there any exceptions under the Canadian Law Society rules that would allow him to represent Lamka. "I find it hard to believe he will find someone who will take this complicated case and do it for free,'' Charney told Deputy Justice Bryan Holub. David Dyer, a lawyer representing police, said the force is eager to proceed with the matter. "The Waterloo Regional Police Service denies the allegations of Mr. Lamka,'' Dyer said after court. "We intend to vigorously defend this action.'' Charney said he's disappointed that the case didn't proceed yesterday, but the "case will go ahead. Either I will do it or someone else will. "The main issue is that police will be held accountable for what they did,'' he said. Home Page - Main Table of Contents - Back up a page - Back to Top [COMMENTS BY DON B. - ] |
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