Nanaimo Mounties arrested three Freemen of the Land in downtown Nanaimo Friday morning.
The arrest happened on Front Street in the Dorchester Hotel parking lot at about 9 a.m. after two members of Nanaimo RCMP’s municipal traffic division recognized one of the men, who was wanted on an outstanding warrant, in the vehicle they were riding in.
“Freemen are basically people who do not acknowledge municipal, provincial or federal laws,” said Const. Gary O’Brien, Nanaimo RCMP spokesman.
When police pulled the mini van over the driver refused to roll his window down or acknowledge the officers.
“They tried repeatedly to get his attention,” O’Brien said.
“They told him verbally that he was under arrest, that he was required to get out of the car and he refused to.”
One of the members resorted to breaking the driver’s window and extracting the driver from the vehicle.
When the other two men refused to exit the van they were hauled out as well.
“They all had outstanding warrants for impersonating police officers,” O’Brien said.
“The driver had two warrants and no driver’s licence.
“The vehicle was also towed because it was illegally parked and it was unsecure because it had a broken window.”
One of the men is from Nanaimo and the other two are from the Lower Mainland.
Nanaimo police have not released the identities of those arrested.