It began as a simple prank influenced by social media. It ended with charges against an 18-year-old Wendover youth who also claims to have suffered injuries during his arrest.
“We cannot comment,” said Constable Melissa Bouchard, Russell County OPP media liaison, adding that the case is still under investigation. “We are still getting (complaint) phone calls about this.”
The Wendover youth and a friend were returning home July 10 after a fishing trip near Casselman. As they drove homewards they were inspired to imitate a prank they saw on the TikTok social media site of people shooting foam darts at strangers. They stopped at a store in Rockland and bought a Nerf Jolt gun, which is a colourful plastic gun that shoots foam darts.
They drove through the Morris Village residential area in Rockland. The youth who was arrested was driving the car and his friend fired foam darts at passersby. One man who was shot at threw something at the car. They left the neighbourhood and were stopped by police.
Both youths were arrested and taken to the detachment. The driver is now charged with assault with a weapon, criminal harassment and careless driving. He claims to have received injuries during the arrest.
The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) deals with cases where police are accused of injuring a suspect. As of press time the SIU has not been called in and the OPP say they are still receiving complaints about the actions of the accused and his friend.
