Yellowknife man frustrated with police handling of assault report
A man in Yellowknife who called the police to report an assault says he's upset with how officers handled the incident.
On Friday night, George Lessard said he saw a man get punched in the face and then fall down bleeding outside of his home on Gitzel Street. He contacted the RCMP but said when officers arrived, they arrested the injured man.
"That makes me a little concerned about calling the RCMP the next time I see somebody bloody on the street, maybe they'll get arrested too," he said.
From his window, Lessard said he tried to alert the officer to his concerns but he was ignored.
I look at it as almost a jigsaw puzzle where everybody has their own little piece and they might have a piece we need to get a fuller and better picture. - Cpl. Robert Frizzell
"I said: 'officer what are you doing? this is the victim. I just called you, I'm the person who called. What's going on?'"
Lessard acknowledged that he only saw part of the incident before he called police. He also said he understands the responding officer may not have been able to speak with him while he was making an arrest, but that police drove away without talking to him and haven't contacted him since.
Police say there's more to the story
Cpl. Robert Frizzell said they received four separate calls Friday night about the man in question. The first call was made at 5:20 p.m., locating him on Franklin Ave. near Ruth Inch Memorial Pool.
Frizzell said based on all the information police received, officers arrested the man and he has since been charged.
"I think it's important for people to recognize that what they see might not be the whole story, there might be things going on before or after what they saw," he said.
Only one person has been charged in relation to the incident, according to Frizzell. His name and the charges he is facing have not yet been released.
Frizzell also confirmed that injuries were sustained by parties involved in the incident, but its unclear what, if any, medical treatment they received.
Frizzell said he encourages people to contact the police if they witness a crime.
"I look at it as almost a jigsaw puzzle where everybody has their own little piece and they might have a piece we need to get a fuller and better picture," he said.
Frizzell said he wasn't at the scene of the arrest so he couldn't comment on the officer's response to Lessard's concerns, but he did say that it's good for people to identify themselves at crime scenes and to clarify circumstances. He noted, however, that they should wait until it's safe to do so.
"It's generally not a great idea to kind of encroach or push in or try and intervene in any way when an officer is trying to conduct an arrest," he said.
