CALGARY- While searching for a suspect in a domestic violence complaint on the Whitefish Lake First Nation, a St. Paul RCMP officer was attacked.
Just before 4 p.m. Saturday, a St. Paul RCMP constable conducted a traffic stop involving a vehicle believed to have the suspect as a passenger. The officer tried to arrest the suspect when the man attacked him.
The RCMP member was on his own at the time.
The fight continued while the suspect tried to get in the police truck.
Both fell to the ground as the struggle continued. The suspect punched the RCMP officer several times in the head and face before gaining entry into the truck and driving away.
“The suspect attempted to disarm the constable. During that time the constable was able to maintain control of the service pistol,” said Cst. Jeff Campbell, a media relations officer with Alberta RCMP.
“The suspect was able to get away and enter the police vehicle.”
The officer was dragged a short distance trying to prevent the suspect from driving off.
Due to poor cell phone and radio service in the area, the injured constable went to at a nearby residence and called for help.
Backup members then traced the stolen police car using its in-car GPS and found it abandoned in a ditch a few kilometres away.
With help from community members, local RCMP officers tracked the suspect down on foot to a residence on the south end of the reserve around 5:30 p.m.
Dominic Timothy Jackson, 26, of Whitefish Lake First Nation, is facing seven charges in relation to the day’s events, including assault on a police officer causing bodily harm, attempting to disarm a police officer, and theft of a vehicle.
Jackson is known to police and was also wanted on four separate outstanding warrants totaling 19 criminal charges including domestic assault, domestic assault with a weapon, break and enter, and uttering threats.
The injured officer was taken by ambulance to the St. Paul Hospital where he was treated and released later Saturday night. The officer’s name has not been released.
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