Penniless man goes berserk in Kangiqsujuaq

ODILE NELSON

The Kativik Regional Police Force has charged a Kangiqsujuaq man with assault causing bodily harm, and a handful of other offences, after a public disturbance in early August.

The man, whose name was not released, is now being detained in southern Quebec. He faces five criminal charges, uttering threats, resisting arrest, assault, assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm, George Okpik, the KRPF’s communications officer, said in an interview this week.

Okpik said the incident began on the morning of Aug. 8, when the man entered Kangiqsujuaq’s co-op store, tried to take money out on an overdue account, and was refused.

“That was around 11 a.m. in the morning. He then went on to his sister’s. He asked her for money and was refused there too,” Okpik said. “He became aggressive. He was yelling and making threats. He said he was going to basically hurt people and hurt himself.”

The man’s sister called the village’s only police officer for help, and he and a local resident arrived on the scene shortly after to arrest the man, Okpik said.

But the man refused to go with the police officer and began throwing rocks at the two men. At one point, Okpik said, the man tied a rope around one rock and swung it around himself to avoid arrest.

One of the rock’s nicked the police officer, and this lead to the assault causing bodily harm charge, Okpik said.

The police officer eventually tricked the man into surrendering. He was held in a cell in the community’s three-room police station until he could be flown down South Aug. 12.

The fact the man was arrested late on Friday afternoon and bad weather prevented the man from being flown down earlier, Okpik said.

Okpik said the man is known to police and has a history of similar convictions.

Okpik said he could not release the man’s name because he was not sure he had yet been formally charged.

During a visit to the community by a group of Liberal politicians last week, the man started swearing at the visiting VIPs, highlighting Nunavik’s need for new police stations and proper detention facilities for accused persons