Canada

Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Montreal "Officer 728", Stefanie Trudeau, makes an arrest in an image taken from a Radio-Canada contributed video from 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Radio-Canada

A Montreal police officer who gained notoriety under the moniker "Officer 728," after viral videos surfaced of her allegedly roughing people up, is being charged in court today.

Const. Stefanie Trudeau has been alleged to have used excessive force in one arrest and unnecessarily pepper-spraying student protesters last year.

It was not immediately known what charges are pending against the patrol officer, who has been suspended with pay since Oct. 2.

Cst. Martin Simard, a spokesman for Longueuil police, said officers from his force helped Montreal police arrest the 40-year-old at her suburban home Monday night.

She first became an Internet sensation during Quebec's student protests last year, when she was accused of aggressively pepper-spraying innocent bystanders.

Then she was accused of hurting a bystander in an incident that started with her demanding ID from a friend who was sipping beer by an apartment building doorway.

Trudeau's arrest came after an internal inquiry into the officer's behaviour.

Police Chief Marc Parent said last fall as the file was turned over to Crown prosecutors that nearly 30 police officers and 50 citizens were interviewed.