Halifax Regional Police have charged a man for allegedly stealing from a store, then trying to get out of paying a cab driver by assaulting him with a tree branch.
Police said they were called to an assault in progress on Lynnett Road at around 9:45 a.m. last Saturday morning.
“A man had taken a taxi to that location and attempted to leave without paying,” police said in a release.
“When the taxi driver asked for the money for the fare the man assaulted him with a tree branch then fled on foot.”
Police also allege the man had stolen merchandise from a Home Depot store on Lacewood Drive in Clayton Park before getting into the cab.
The suspect was arrested the next day while in a vehicle in the 500-block of Herring Cove Road.
Brandon Germaine Rogers, 35, is facing charges of assault with a weapon, assault, theft under $5,000, possession of property obtained by crime under $5,000 and taxi fraud.
In addition to those charges, Rogers faces 15 other theft-related charges stemming from 15 separate incidents.