Watchdog: Gun-shaped novelty lighter involved in B.C. RCMP arrest where woman was injured 

January 8,2026

RED FM News Desk

More information has emerged about a 2024 arrest on Vancouver Island that left a woman seriously injured, including that she was carrying a “novelty cigarette lighter” resembling a gun. 

The B.C. police watchdog, the Independent Investigations Office (IIO), announced last year that the officers involved would not face criminal charges, but said at the time it could not release further details because of an ongoing RCMP file. 

On Thursday, the IIO published its full report, revealing that the woman suffered a fractured shoulder during what it described as a struggle to restrain her and later required surgery. The report also includes a photograph of a gun-shaped lighter that RCMP officers found nearby after the arrest. 

The woman was arrested on the afternoon of Nov. 29, 2024, after North Cowichan–Duncan RCMP responded to multiple 911 calls reporting someone waving what appeared to be a handgun at passing vehicles. 

According to the report, bystanders helped officers locate a woman sitting against a tree along the Cowichan River with her hands in her pockets. She did not comply with commands to show her hands and at one point appeared to throw an object onto the grass. 

An officer then approached her from behind and took her to the ground. The woman resisted as several officers attempted to handcuff her but was eventually taken into custody. 

After being told she was under arrest for pointing a firearm, the woman said the object was a lighter she had received as a gift, the report said. 

The IIO concluded there was no evidence the woman was injured as a result of excessive or unjustified force and commended officers for using force “at the very lowest end of the scale” in what they believed was an encounter with an unco-operative, potentially armed individual. 

“I do not consider that there are reasonable grounds to believe that an officer may have committed an offence,” IIO chief civilian director Jessica Berglund wrote. 

Last year, Vancouver became the first Canadian city to ban gun-shaped lighters, citing concerns that they can unnecessarily escalate police encounters.