Courtney Pike stands on the doorstep of her home, where she says two RCMP officers entered without warning around 5:30 a.m. Sunday. (Troy Turner / CBC)
A family in Corner Brook says their privacy was invaded by two RCMP officers who entered their home without warning and questioned their young daughter about a missing girl early Sunday morning.
Courtney Pike told CBC News that she and her partner Andrew Dunphy were awakened around 5:30 a.m. Sunday by the sound of stairs at the top of their stairs.
“I said, ‘Andrew, I think there’s someone in our house,'” Pike said Tuesday.
“They just shouted ‘Hello.’ It wasn’t RCMP, nothing. Andrew jumped out of bed because he heard the voice of a strange man in the house. He ran outside and it was two policemen walking down our corridor. “
Pike said police, who learned they had entered the house through an unlocked door, had begun asking questions about the missing girl. The couple said they had no idea anyone was missing and asked police why they were at home, Pike said, but received no clear answer.
But Pike says she learned that she and Dunphy were not the first people questioned by police at the house. Pike said her 11-year-old daughter, Nevaye, told her she was awakened by a flashlight shining in her face.
“She said they came to her room. They opened the door to her bedroom,” Pike said.
“She couldn’t even see who she was,” she said. “For me, their first question should have been, ‘Where’s your mother, where’s your father, where are your parents?’ But no, they bombarded her with questions about this girl.”
Pike said Nevai was shaken by the incident and has had difficulty sleeping since.
Pike says the two officers entered her daughter’s bedroom before going upstairs. (Troy Turner / CBC)
After officers finished talking to the couple, Pike said, they headed up the street – leaving their car in their driveway – and left a little later.
Pike said she later learned that the missing girl had been found hours before police showed up at their home.
– What entitles them?
Pike went to the Corner Brook Police Department the next day to get answers, and was told that officers had been allowed to enter the home after knocking on unanswered doors and windows.
She disputes this claim, saying that any kind of noise would alert their dog, the Bear.
“They had to sneak through this house to keep my dog from barking. He crawled up those stairs. Because he barks at everything, “Pike said.
“If he had knocked on our door, we would have answered and you could have looked everywhere.” They didn’t have to ask. [Nevaeh] all without the presence of a parent. “
Pike disputes the RCMP’s claim that police officers tried to knock on their doors and windows to get their attention, saying that any noise would be heard by their dog Bear. (Troy Turner / CBC)
Pike says police also told her they came to her home after receiving a report of a missing girl who was seen in a red house on the street. She said there were many red houses on her street, including one opposite her house, but none of their neighbors had dealt with police on Sunday.
The RCMP did not answer questions about the incident, but made a statement to CBC News on Tuesday.
The statement acknowledged that the missing girl had been found the night before, but said police received a report after 4 a.m. Sunday morning that the 17-year-old had disappeared again and gone to Pike’s home based on the report. .
“After a long period of knocking, doorbell ringing and verbal communication, police entered the residence through an unlocked door, verbally announcing their presence,” the statement said. “Subsequently, the owner was awakened and it was confirmed that the missing person was not present.”
Pike says she and her partner have found a lawyer to file a complaint about the incident, saying they were shaken by the experience.
“I feel that our rights have been violated. “There’s no reason for anyone to just come into our house,” she said.
“[Police] they must obey the law too … Andrew told them that if it was him and he went into someone’s house to look for someone, he would be accused of a violation. He wouldn’t get away with it, so what entitles them? “
Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador
Add Comment