A Port Alberni RCMP officer was taken to hospital with significant but non life-threatening injuries after being assaulted during an arrest. A second officer was also injured during the altercation.
A Port Alberni RCMP officer responded to a report Dec. 29 of a belligerent man who had threatened a cab driver and punched at his window. The officer located the highly-intoxicated man and a woman inside a residence in the 6,400-block of Withers Road in Port Alberni at 8:10 p.m.
“The member attempted to arrest the man for his altercation with the cabbie when the man became physically assaultive towards the police officer,” Port Alberni RCMP media liaison officer Cpl. Amelia Hayden said. The woman also participated in the assault on the member.
Other members arrived at the residence and were able to take both the man and woman into custody. The first officer was taken to hospital for medical attention for significant non-life threatening injuries and later released.
Thomas Curtis Martin, 38, of Nanaimo and Natasha Ebany Unseld-Sandulak, 25, of Port Alberni appeared before a judge on Jan. 2 and are each facing charges of assault causing bodily harm and uttering threats towards a police officer. Martin was also charged with resisting or wilfully obstructing a peace officer.
As the matter is now before the courts, the RCMP won’t be releasing any additional information.
