A female RCMP officer was assaulted by a cyclist during a “routine” stop on Bernard Avenue early Tuesday morning.
Punched repeatedly in the head and face, the officer still chased after the suspect who had fled the scene on foot, RCMP Const. Tracy Wolbeck said.
But after catching up with him, Wolbeck said, “he continued to assault the officer by getting her to the ground and continuing to punch her.”
Luckily, several people in the area saw the 7 a.m. attack and came to the officer’s aid.
“None of us want to speculate what the outcome may have been had it not been for these people,” Wolbeck said.
“This is a really sobering reminder to us all that there is no such thing as ‘routine’ in our job,” she said. “Every situation we engage in is potentially dangerous and even we can lose sight of that sometimes.”
The injured officer was able to control the suspect until other RCMP members arrived to make the arrest.
The suspect, a 34-year-old Chilliwack man, had been stopped by the officer because he wasn’t wearing a helmet.
He now faces up to three counts of assaulting the police officer, who was treated and released from hospital and is expected to make a full recovery from head and face injuries.
Wolbeck said the Upper Fraser Valley RCMP detachment thanks all the individuals who came to the officer’s assistance.
