The woman who was allegedly sprayed with a hose by the spouse of Delta’s police chief is raising new concerns about the investigation into the case.
It comes after Kiran Sidhu says she was approached by a high-profile former Mountie with ties to a ranking officer in the Delta Police Department, while the Surrey RCMP was investigating the alleged assault.
The criminal investigation involving Lorraine Dubord, wife of DPD Chief Neil Dubord, began back in June. That’s when Lorraine allegedly threatened Sidhu and sprayed her for walking on the rocks in front of the Dubords’ Centennial Beach home.
But Sidhu says after the case went public, she was approached by Baltej Dhillon, the first RCMP officer in Canada to wear a turban.
“(I got a call that he) wanted to meet and talk about all the stuff that’s been happening, the incident with Lorraine Dubord, and the media stuff I’ve been doing since then,” Sidhu told Global News.
Sidhu agreed to the meeting, she said, because Dhillon is a prominent member of the South Asian community and had a good reputation.
“It was more about, ‘let’s use this media attention to pivot into something that’s beneficial to the community,'” she said. “Whether that would be furthering the cause of South Asian people or furthering the cause of anti-racism in Delta.”
But according to Sidhu, Dhillon disclosed that he was friends with and had served together in the RCMP with a current high ranking officer in the DPD. He also told her that he’d been asked to reach out by someone at the City of Delta, said Sidhu.
Dhillon declined an interview, while the City of Delta said it had no comment.
Sidhu said that at the time, the outreach appeared both genuine and distinct from her case, but that now she’s not so sure.
“Now it seems like a lot of it is very enmeshed, and upon reflection I think it was not appropriate,” she said.
Former B.C. solicitor general Kash Heed described Dhillon’s involvement in the high-profile case as “very unusual.”
“You should know (to) let the system, which is built on integrity, let it play out. Do not interject yourself suddenly into this to try and mitigate whatever he or she may be mitigating,” he said.
“This is even more so when you’re a long-serving police officer like Mr. Dhillon was. I believe he rose to the rank of inspector.”
The RCMP criminal investigation into the incident resulted in a recommendation of two charges: uttering threats and assault.
However, earlier this month the B.C. Prosecution Service said it had opted instead to pursue “alternative measures,” an option commonly given to young offenders or adults with no criminal history in which they accept responsibility for the crime and make amends.
In the meantime, the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner is continuing its own investigation into how the Delta police handled the original complaint.
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