An alcohol-fuelled tussle between two "highly intoxicated" women and city police at a residence in northeast Barrie ended up with the officers being injured and a video of the incident making the rounds on social media.
On Wednesday at 7:39 p.m., Barrie police responded to an address on Georgian Drive for a report of an assault in progress after receiving two 9-1-1 calls. It quickly descended into what police characterized as "a violent struggle."
The video shows both responding officers — a male and a female — being kicked and punched by the women as the officers attempted to take them into custody on the home's front porch.
One of the officers was kicked in the face and suffered a chipped tooth, while the other officer had a large portion of hair forcibly pulled from her scalp. She also sustained numerous abrasions, a sprained finger, as well as injuries to her neck and head area.
Both of the officers received medical attention.
Barrie police communications co-ordinator Peter Leon said despite the officers being injured during the arrest and resulting melee, both managed to finish their shifts.
“These officers endured a lot in that assault and continued to serve the community as they do each and every day,” Leon told BarrieToday on Friday. “The female officer was able to maintain her composure while a significant chunk of hair was being pulled from her head."
Leon said "the sad thing is" one of the women involved had been the alleged victim in the original call.
Additional police units were requested and responded to provide assistance.
Both women were arrested and have been charged in connection to the incident.
Virginia Sime, a 28-year-old Barrie resident, and Charlene Dupuis, a 34-year-old Rama resident, have both been charged with two counts of assaulting a peace officer as well as obstructing a peace officer and assault.
Sime was also charged with failing to comply with a probation order.
Both were held in custody pending a bail hearing on Thursday and later released on an undertaking. Their first court appearance is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 8.
A video circulating on social media shows one woman handcuffed and restrained on the ground by a male officer waiting for back-up.
The video also shows a female officer subduing the other woman, who swears and fights back by punching the officer before getting a hold of the officer’s hair.
The male officer then intervenes, punching the accused twice to get her to release her grip, which is ineffective.
When the male officer tries to pull the woman off the female officer, they all go down the stairs onto the front walkway.
The second female, who had been handcuffed, stands up and attempts to grab at the male officer’s belt. He shoves her down to the ground and away from him and the struggle between the other officer and woman who had been in an altercation on the porch.
As police try to subdue the other woman on the ground with the officer, the male officer appears to swat at her twice. She then kicks the female officer in the face and the second female kicks the male officer in the arm.
An unidentified man is heard in the video telling the women to “sit there and let them do their job.”
A third officer then arrives at the scene and helps subdue one of the women.
The second woman is attended to again and taken down to the ground by a male officer.
When the bystander, who previously intervened, tells her to stay down, she makes a kicking motion toward his face.
The women are then restrained after more than two and half minutes of struggling with the police.
A male officer then turns to the person recording and says: “Thanks for all your help while you were on your phone, that's awesome,” adding, “Way to stand there and watch, you should be proud of yourselves.”
The officer then instructs another officer to seize the phone as evidence.
Leon said while we live in a world where people like to post police interactions to social media, there are times when it would be helpful for the public to assist when the opportunity safely allows.
“There are times it may be unsafe,and we understand that," he said. "In this case, the officers were being assaulted and waiting for back-up. A little assistance while the officers were assisting the community would have been a good thing.”
The phone was not confiscated and the owner co-operated in sharing the video with police, Leon said.
