Naujaat man awaits sentencing on assault, threatening police

A Naujaat man involved in a standoff with police that lasted several hours earlier this year will be sentenced in court in January.

Paul Tegumiar, 48, pleaded guilty to assault of a police officer, uttering threats, and possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose.

During a pre-sentencing hearing Wednesday in Naujaat’s community hall, Crown prosecutor Ori Powell said the incident started June 1 when RCMP responded to a report of an assault at Tegumiar’s house.

Two officers arrived at 8:30 a.m., entered the house and attempted to arrest Tegumiar. A woman ran from the house and hid behind the RCMP car.

Powell said when Tegumiar resisted the arrest and began fighting the officers, they left the house but remained outside. Tegumiar spat at them and continued his aggressive behaviour, then locked himself inside the house.

The officers called for police emergency units from Edmonton and Iqaluit.

Around 2 p.m., RCMP advised Naujaat residents to shelter in place and avoid the area where the standoff was ongoing, Powell said.

During that time on social media, Tegumiar posted photos of rifles with captions threatening to kill the police officers.

“I got this ready for the cops they next come here,” he wrote under a photo showing a box of hunting rifle bullets.

About 4:40 a.m. the next day, Tegumiar surrendered after RCMP crisis negotiators from Iqaluit convinced him to leave the house.

None of the officers suffered physical injuries during the standoff.

But in a victim impact statement read in court, one officer said that while she regularly faces threats and racist comments on the job, Tegumiar was the first person she believed might actually kill her.

Although the standoff did not turn deadly, “the substantial likelihood of harm that could have happened from that situation is still very high,” Powell argued.

He said the Crown is seeking a jail sentence of between 18 months and two years less a day, and a prohibition on possessing weapons for that term.

Tegumiar’s lawyer Alan Regel acknowledged the Crown’s suggested sentence is not unreasonable and that other accused in similar circumstances would probably face similar punishment.

However, Regel said, this is “a good man who did a very bad thing.”

He noted Tegumiar is a father, grandfather, hunter and “not the type of person who engages in unlawful conduct.”

Regel said Tegumiar pleaded guilty early in the case even though he doesn’t have a great recollection of the incident as he and the victim were both drinking that day.

Regel suggested a three-year suspended sentence or a conditional sentence under which Tegumiar would avoid incarceration but remain under the supervision of a probation officer.

He also recommended counselling to assist Tegumiar “in recognizing the important duties of the police.”

Tegumiar’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Jan. 6 in Iqaluit.