REGINA – A 20-year-old man is facing several charges following a confrontation with police that began late Thursday morning in the city’s North Central neighbourhood.
Officers were dispatched to a home in the 1200 block of Elphinstone Street shortly before 11 a.m. for a report of a weapons offence involving bear spray. When police arrived, they found an adult male victim who had just been sprayed. He was taken to hospital by EMS for treatment of injuries.
A male suspect was located a short distance away but fled on foot as officers approached. During the foot pursuit, the suspect turned and assaulted one of the officers with bear spray.
The chase continued to the front yard of a residence in the 1200 block of McTavish Street, where officers — including members of the Canine Unit — attempted to make an arrest. In the process, a second officer and a Police Service Dog (PSD) were also assaulted with bear spray. Despite the attack, the PSD successfully apprehended the suspect, biting him in the process.
The suspect, identified as Jayden Sunshine-Wapan, 20, was taken to hospital by EMS to be treated for injuries sustained during the arrest. Both officers and the PSD were also treated for injuries resulting from exposure to bear spray.
Sunshine-Wapan is now facing a list of charges, including assault with a weapon, two counts of assaulting a police officer with a weapon, injuring a law enforcement animal, assault with intent to resist arrest, resist arrest, possession of a weapon, and carrying a concealed weapon.
Sunshine-Wapan is scheduled to appear in Regina Provincial Court on April 28.
