According to the Toronto Star,
The Nov. 19 incident at The Piston (a bar on Bloor Street West in Toronto) began when two couples were involved in a dispute over a coat. Several blows were struck...
On Jan. 5, after returning from a visit to Cuba with her boyfriend, Aston received an email from an officer pointing out that the victim identified her as the woman who struck her.The first clue of sloppy police work could have been that Aston was notified that she was a suspect by email.
According to the Toronto Sun, Aston said:
“I told the officer I was at an art opening for a friend, then went home with my boyfriend because he injured his knee. We stayed in for the rest of the night and I did research on the computer for an art installation I was working on. The officer didn’t care ... I don’t think the police looked into it further.”
Aston said, the officer “read me my rights. I was searched, finger printed and processed.”
She retained a lawyer “had numerous court dates and spent thousands of dollars to right this wrong.”Eventually, the charges, filed by Const. Kristal McCullough of 14 Division, were dropped, but not after an arrest, fingerprinting, a number of court appearances, and a legal bill that Aston had deal with.
The Toronto Sun's Joe Warmington has accused the Toronto Police of outright lying in trying to cover up their incompetence in this case.
Toronto's Police have a hard job, but when a few bad police shirk their responsibility to tell the truth and damage public confidence by trying to cover up their ineptitude, it makes the job harder for all of them.
UPDATE: Toronto Police seem to be spending more time arresting innocent people than criminals. The question is whether this is a result of police laziness or stupidity. (update h/t Blazing Cat Fur)
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