Tumbler Ridge RCMP have one man in custody following an incident that occurred over the weekend.
The incident occurred in the very late hours of Saturday, October 17, when the man was reported to be flashing a knife at some youths on the 100-block of Kinuseo Avenue.
This incident was quickly reported to the Tumbler Ridge RCMP, who attended and apprehended the man under the Mental Health Act. The man was transported to the hospital by RCMP as required.
Trudy Maloney posted about the incident on Facebook. “On Saturday night my daughter and her friend were on their way home and this man came out of nowhere and started yelling at them,” wrote Maloney.
“The girls moved to the other side of the road and continued home he started following them then started walking faster and they looked back and he was running at them with a knife.
“The girls started running towards our house and he started chasing them. The girls ran into our house and some of their guy friends were there and the girls told them and they looked outside and he was outside my house with a knife yelling at them all that he was gonna kill them and jabbing the knife towards them.”
Maloney says they called 911, and the RCMP came and grabbed the man.
According to the RCMP, the man was released from the hospital in the morning of October 19, and returned to Tumbler Ridge.
“When my husband was driving into town last night he seen this guy walking the street,” says Maloney. “This man gets to walk our streets and our kids have to worry about running into this guy and not feel safe walking home. Where’s the justice in this? I am posting this for every parent to be aware.”
Other residents in town have posted about their own run-ins with the man, including in one instance where he pulled off his shirt.
Later that day he was once again picked up by the RCMP. This time, says the RCMP, the man will remain in custody until he can attend court.
“Tumbler Ridge RCMP want to assure the public that they are taking this situation very seriously and that there is currently no further risk to the public,” says a release from the RCMP. “We appreciate all the information we have received from residents regarding these incidents and want to commend the youth involved in calling police so quickly,”
According to one of the officers I spoke to off the record, there were dozens of calls to the RCMP to alert them of the man’s return.
This investigation remains ongoing.
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
