Mona Wang (left) shows her injuries after a violent ‘wellness check’ in 2020. The Kelowna RCMP officer at the center of a violent wellness check on a UBC Okanagan student in 2020 has pleaded guilty. Const. Lacy Browning pleaded guilty Monday on the first day of her trial. She was charged and has now pleaded guilty to one count of assault. Browning’s attorney requested that a Gladue report be created prior to sentencing. Gladue reports are used to provide courts with specific context for an Indigenous offender’s background. Browning is likely to be sentenced sometime next year, the court heard. Browning was charged in August 2021, a year and a half after she was caught on surveillance video dragging UBCO nursing student Mona Wang down an apartment hallway and stomping on her head as she lay on the floor in the apartment lobby. Browning had responded to the apartment building near UBC Okanagan on January 20, 2020, after Mona Wang’s boyfriend reported he was concerned that Wang was experiencing a mental health crisis and might be a danger to herself. Wang had not been charged with any crime, and Browning did a “wellness check.” Castanet released video of the incident in June 2020 and it quickly attracted widespread criticism and national attention. Wang filed a civil suit against Browning and the RCMP in March 2020. The suit has since been settled out of court. Browning assumed administrative duties in June 2020. with files by Nich Johansen & Cindy White
