Assault Of Officer At Queens Park July 30th Update - New Westminster Police Department

Date of Event 2011-07-30
Time of Event 23:49 Hours

A New Westminster Police officer was on routine patrol driving the large police van through Queens Park
A casually dressed male and female walking in the park flagged down our officer to tell him that there was a black male in the park by the picnic tables that was crying hysterically.
The police officer drove to a parking area next to Centennial Lodge and began walking towards the picnic area to try and help this distraught male.
As he approached he could hear a male “bawling” over by the picnic tables. Visibility was almost zero in this area with the weather this evening and a total lack of light.
When the officer was approximately 25 feet from the covered picnic area he used his flashlight to illuminate the male who had his face in his hands crying very hard.
The officer spoke to the male informing him that it was the police.
Certainly the mindset of the officer was that of trying to help a citizen during a period of crisis.
It was at this point that the situation turned very bad, very fast.
The male described as a
- black male
- 25 to 30 years old,
- 6’ 4” approximately and very muscular
- With no shirt on but wearing black and green camoflauge cargoshorts white socks and white Nike runners with a dark swoosh.
- The officer described also described the hairstyle as being dark with a “FADE” on the right side. This description has since been clarified since the officers understanding of a “FADE” is somewhat different from other persons believed the description would look.

At this point the male stood up and without any warning immediately ran at the officer. The officer had no time to react as the male punched out striking the officer in the abdominal area hard enough to almost wind him.
The officer immediately defended himself and took the man to ground and struck the man in the face.
The officer believes that he may have broken this males’ nose or a very least caused it to bleed.
To this point the officer had no idea a knife was involved.
When the officer was on top of the male he finally noticed a knife in his hand. The officer disengaged to put some distance between them.
The male took the opportunity to drop the knife and get up and flee with the officer in foot pursuit.
The male was last seen near the intersection of 6 avenue and McBride.
Despite a joint effort by our officers , officers from surrounding jurisdictions, the police helicopters and police dogs this male was not located.

Actual injuries to the officer this evening consisted of a slash to the left side of his face requiring multiple stitches.
I want to emphasize the life threatening nature of the incident. Our officer is a fairly large man who was attacked in an unprovoked fashion. Fortunately he was able to stop the threat. This might not have been the same end result if the victim was either an unarmed citizen or a smaller officer. We as police are always at a disadvantage during most episodes of violence since we can only react after the fact. An individual that chooses to attack an officer has an advantage. Only he knows what his intent when we first approach, an innocent encounter for us can turn deadly very fast. It is so fortunate that safety equipment worked in the fashion that it was supposed to.

PUBLIC APPEAL

We still want to locate and speak to the man and woman who originally flagged down our officer.
Anyone that may know who the male is who attacked our officer is asked to call our Tips Line.
Or anyone with information who can help with this crime is asked to call our Tips line at 604 529-2430

I want to send a message to the individual involved that we are looking for…Turn yourself in, your description is unique and someone out there will know you. We will find you so it is much preferred that you take
responsibility for your actions and come and talk to our investigators.

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