Small argument led to alleged attack with a weapon

The Daily News gets up to speed with the recent alleged attack on an RCMP officer who answered a call of a fare dispute between a passenger and a Skeena Cab driver. They provided some more background on the story in their Wednesday edition.

'ROUTINE' CALL FOR POLICE ENDS UP IN DRAMA
By James Vassallo
The Daily News
Wednesday, February 21, 2007

An apparent dispute over a cab fare has landed a local man in hot water after he allegedly attacked police with a knife.

“What started as a small argument with a man refusing to pay a few dollars for his cab fare escalated quickly,” said Const. Steve Richards, RCMP media relations and community policing officer. “It was pretty straight forward where only one member deals with these things, and he tried to defuse the situation and negotiate a resolution which normally would end up with the guy coming up with a few bucks for his cab fare but instead he’s facing two counts of assaulting a peace officer.”

Shortly after 8:30 p.m. on Sunday the officer responded to a call in the 700 block of Fifth Avenue West. A man at that location was allegedly refusing to pay his cab fare.

When the member arrived, the man had gone inside a residence. The man came outside and spoke with the member who placed him under arrest. After a brief struggle, the man escaped and fled back into the residence, said Richards.

“That member could see inside that there was more than one person in there so he waited a minute for two other members to show-up,” said Richards. “Two additional members arrived and, after announcing themselves, the three members entered the house to re-capture the man who had assaulted the responding member and escaped custody.”

However, as the initial officer entered the home he was allegedly set upon by the escaped male, this time armed with a knife.

“Once inside the residence that same man came at the first officer, they fought briefly and he tried to gain control of the guy,” he said, “They could now see he had a knife in his hand, so the three members together quickly gained control of him. We try to gain control of a situation with as little force as possible — if this member had gone into the house by himself and been attacked with this guy with a knife, it’s definitely more than just a simple hand-to-hand thing ... it’s open and shut grounds for lethal force.

“Having three members attend allows us not to have to do that.”

Several charges are being recommended against the 30-year-old Prince Rupert resident including: two counts of Assaulting a Peace Officer, one count of Escaping Lawful Custody, one count of Possession of a Weapon for a Dangerous Purpose, and one count of Fraud in Relation to Fares.

“This incident illustrates how a seemingly minor call for service can turn dangerous for police,” said Richards. “Members of the public are often surprised and ask why we sometimes have two or three members respond to calls. Incidents like this one demonstrate why, whenever possible, we will respond to calls with as many as we reasonably can.

“There’s no such thing as routine, you never know who you’re going to encounter or what they’ve been doing. The members (from Mayerthorpe, Alberta) that were killed weren’t even the warrant team ... they were just left behind to secure the place. It’s a perfect example of how minor things can turn into terrible things.”