An Inuvik man who got in a shoving match with two RCMP officers was put under a conditional sentence for several months.
In Inuvik Territorial Court on Oct. 27, Justin Christopher Frost, 31, pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting a peace officer. Judge Garth Malakoe put him on a four-month conditional sentence, which he will serve at his home. He is also required to provide a DNA sample to police.
"Sorry for my actions on that day," said Frost in his defence. "I know I was wrong."
In an agreed statement of facts, crown prosecutor Matthew Scott told court police were at a residence in Inuvik on April 12 for an unrelated matter where Frost was visiting.
Scott said that police concluded Frost should be placed under arrest and advised him he was being taken into custody. The charge police were arresting him for was later stayed by the crown.
Frost then stood up and told the police he was not under arrest. The two RCMP officers then attempted to handcuff him. Scott said that Frost then lunged forward, pushing with his hands and struck one officer in the head twice and pushed the other into a table.
One of the officers then hit Frost with pepper spray and he sat down and began to comply with their orders. However, Scott also said while he was sitting down he looked the police in the eyes and made several threats.
Police called in back-up and when cops arrived Frost was placed in handcuffs and taken back to the Inuvik RCMP detachment.
"It was a relatively prolonged fight," said Scott. "It was a concerted effort to resist arrest. The peace officers were just doing their job."
Duty counsel Tú Pham said Frost was mistaken about his rights in the event of an arrest.
"He accepts that he behaved badly," said Pham. "He mistakenly believed the police did not have a right to arrest him. In hindsight, he accepts it was a lawful arrest.
"He's gotten the message it's a horrible idea to fight with the police."