Motivational speaker hit by SUV and knocked off scooter, slams 'bullying' police response

All her life, Talli Osborne has been standing up to bullies — except now, she is alleging the bullies are carrying badges.

Osborne has filed a formal complaint with the Office of the Independent Police Review Director about two Hamilton police officers who responded to the scene of a crash where she was hit by an SUV in central Hamilton last week.

The local motivational speaker and musician alleges in her complaint that the officers who showed up after she was struck bullied her, didn't listen to her concerns, and blamed her for the entire incident — purely because she uses a mobility scooter.

"It was like they were judging me right away," she told CBC News in an interview. "There was no, 'Are you OK? Is there someone you can call?' There was no compassion. Zero warmth.

"This was aggressive. This was bullying."

Hamilton police say they will not comment on any incident that is before the OIPRD.

It was completely upsetting. They were unbelievably rude, and it didn't seem like they were there to help us.- Pat Skinner

The incident happened around 1 p.m. on Friday, Osborne says, when she was heading out to get groceries in the area of Wentworth Street South and Delaware Avenue, near Main Street East. Osborne was born with no arms and missing bones in her legs, so she uses a scooter to get around.

While riding on the sidewalk, she says, an SUV coming out of a parking lot struck the side of her scooter and knocked her to the ground. Through the shock and the pain of hitting the concrete, she felt helpless, she says.

"I just started bawling my eyes out," she said. 

Officers were 'aggressive,' Osborne says

Luckily, Osborne wasn't seriously injured. The people in the SUV and others in the area came to her aid, and asked if she needed an ambulance. Osborne said no, but did decide to call police in case anything needed to be documented for insurance purposes.

That's when things went downhill, she alleges.

Two officers showed up, and their demeanour was "so aggressive," she said.

One officer told her the incident had happened on private property, so there was little they could do.

Osborne, who says she wasn't looking to press charges anyway, told him this happened when she was on the sidewalk, which would be public property.

That's when, she says, the officer started raising his voice, and repeatedly asking, "Ma'am, do you know the Highway Traffic Act?"

Osborne said she was baffled. "I was just hit, and he's yelling at me about the Highway Traffic Act?" she said.

Not long after, the second officer said to her, "Witnesses say you were going pretty fast," Osborne says. She told him she doesn't drive quickly, because of three previous incidents in which she has been struck while on her scooter.

"Then he says, 'Four times eh? What do you think the common denominator is here, ma'am?'" Osborne said. 

'They were unbelievably rude'

Osborne's boyfriend, Pat Skinner, says he had arrived at the scene at this point. He told CBC News that the officers were "certainly talking down to her."

"They began to read her the riot act, and made it seem like she was the one at fault," he said. 

"It was completely upsetting. They were unbelievably rude, and it didn't seem like they were there to help us."

Const. Jerome Stewart told CBC News that Hamilton police won't comment about any incident that is before the OIPRD, though he could not say if that is a Hamilton police practice, or a larger police act guideline.

"All that I've been authorized to confirm is that we did investigate a motor vehicle collision involving a vehicle and a scooter," Stewart said.

Osborne has dedicated her life to empowering others, and speaking out against bullying, oppression and ignorance. She has hosted a Ted Talk, and shared stages with renowned punk bands like Against Me! and NOFX — the latter penning a tribute to her on the 2003 album The War on Errorism called She's Nubs.

Now, she's looking for an apology, and hoping the officers she encountered will receive some sort of sensitivity training to improve how they interact with people who have disabilities.

"These people don't know what it feels like," she said.

"Maybe understand that I am in shock, and really upset. You don't need to blame me."

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