66-year-old B.C. man facing charges after violently assaulting police officer, RCMP say
A man in his 60s is facing multiple assault charges after getting into an altercation with a police officer over the weekend, according to Mounties.
Prince George RCMP said it happened when a BC Highway Patrol officer was conducting a traffic stop near the intersection of Highway 97 N and 10 Avenue shortly after 11 a.m. on Saturday.
RCMP said three Good Samaritans stepped in to help when they noticed the police officer was being "violently assaulted" by the suspect during the vehicle stop.
"(They) assisted in helping him gain control of the suspect," Mounties said in a news release Thursday. "They remained with the suspect until other police officers arrived at the location and placed the man under arrest."
Police said the officer was taken to hospital for treatment, but did not comment on the extent of his injuries.
The suspect — identified as 66-year-old Robert Charles Waite of Prince George — was also assessed at hospital before being taken into custody.
He has since been released pending a future court date.
The BC Prosecution Service has approved multiple charges against Waite, including one count of aggravated assault and two counts of assaulting a peace officer.
Authorities issued a statement thanking the members of the public who assisted the officer.
"We would like to extend out gratitude to these individuals for their actions in this situation," said Insp. Darren Woroshelo with Northern BC Highway Patrol. "They undoubtedly prevented further injury from happening to our police officer, while risking their own safety to do so."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Competition bureau finds 'substantial' anti-competitive effects with proposed Bunge-Viterra merger
The proposed merger of agricultural giants Viterra and Bunge is raising competition concerns from the federal government.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
Canada's favourite sport to watch is hockey, survey shows
The 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs have already delivered a fever level of fan excitement in Canada.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.