Lana Sinclair can't hide the violence she alleges police inflicted upon her on Oct. 31 — it's written all over her face.

Officers showed up at Sinclair's home on Halloween after someone called to report yelling, but Sinclair says she was only trying to hurry her son to go trick-or-treating.

When the officers came inside, one checked on her son and the other talked to her.

"He came up to me and poked me," Sinclair said. "I was sitting on a chair in the kitchen and I jumped up and said you don't need to touch me."

Sinclair says the officer then pulled out his baton.

"He hit me here," Sinclair said, referring to her forearms, which she said she held up to defend herself. "And he hit me here and then I fell on the floor," she said, pointing to her knees.



Sinclair said that bout of violence took place when her son was upstairs with the other officer, but her 8-year-old son saw everything that happened next.

"He had my arm behind me and he smashed my face right here," Sinclair said, pointing to the sewing table she keeps in her living room.

That's when she says she was handcuffed, stood up and her feet were kicked out from underneath her. She fell and landed on her face.

"We [my son and I] were both traumatized," she said. "I just hug him and kiss him and tell him it's okay."

But Sinclair worries that the incident will negatively affect her son's perception of police.

"All I was thinking of was his safety, and how he was going to be traumatized and how he is going to see the police now," she said.

An ambulance was called and after paramedics evaluated her injuries. Sinclair says they told police to take her to Victoria Hospital for treatment. Police drove her there and then to the police station on Dugald Road.

Sinclair says the sergeant on duty was furious at his officers after she told him what happened.

Sinclair is facing charges related to assaulting and resisting a peace officer and has filed a complaint with LERA, the Law Enforcement Review Agency. She has also hired a lawyer.

Winnipeg police were not available for comment on the allegations or on whether they're looking into her complaint.