LETHBRIDGE — Video of a police officer executing a court order and taking three children from their mother the night before she died was played Tuesday at a hearing into allegations of misconduct by police.
The 45-minute video was the first evidence submitted by Andrea Glover and her brothers Neil Saxon and Blair Pomohac to a three-member panel from the provincial Law Enforcement Review Board.
The siblings of Monica Pomohac-Lansing, 41, who died of leukemia in August 2005, contend that former Lethbridge constables Arnold Montes and Shaun Jorgensen were rude and aggressive in their dealings with the family on Aug. 2 and Aug. 6 that year.
The video shows Montes arriving late in the evening at the family’s home and calmly explaining the court order to Pomohac-Lansing and her two brothers.
At first, she argues with the officer and the siblings dispute the provisions of the order but eventually they agree to turn over the three children after Montes explains the order is clear and that he is legally bound to execute it.
As the children are hugging their mother and saying good-bye, one of their uncles can be overheard saying to them: “Say good-bye to your mom. You won’t ever see her again.”
“The kids are already in the middle of this,” says Montes. “Let’s not traumatize them any more.”
After the children have left with an uncle, Montes tries to assure Pomohac-Lansing and her brothers that the order prevents her ex-husband, Frank Lansing, from whisking the children away to his home in Kelowna, B.C.
The video wraps up with Montes leaving without incident after advising Pomohac-Lansing to discuss her concerns further with her lawyer in the morning.
Jorgensen has since left the Lethbridge police service to become a provincial sheriff while Montes is now with Saskatoon police. He cannot be called as a witness because he is outside the panel’s jurisdiction.