Assault, resisting officer lands Airdrie man jail
By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on July 29, 2023.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com An Airdrie man who assaulted a man in Lethbridge then jumped into Henderson Lake to avoid arrest, has received a jail sentence just shy of three months.Andrew Albert Watson, 36, was sentenced to 87 days in custody after he pleaded guilty Friday in Lethbridge court of justice to charges of assault with a weapon, possession of a prohibited firearm and resisting a peace officer.
Court was told a man called police about 7 a.m. on June 2 of this year and said a man “tried” to attack him with a baton. The so-called assailant, who appeared to be wearing a bullet-proof vest, did little more than waive the baton in an “assaultive manner,” then took off on a bicycle that was towing a small cart.
The victim, Crown Prosecutor James Rouleau pointed out, refused to co-operate with police or give his location, but said he believes Watson had a gun.
Several police officers responded and after initial attempts failed to find Watson, one of the officers saw a man matching his description, stopped him and said he was under arrest.
“The subject then looked at (the officer) and said, ‘I didn’t f—k’n do anything wrong,’ and he began pedalling his bike away,” Rouleau said
Watson rode to Henderson Lake, stopped near the boat dock, then jumped in the water.
“He immediately proceeds to tell the officers that he can’t swim, and asks for the officers’ assistance, but refused to exit the lake.”
After some considerable discussion, Watson finally apologized for fleeing from police, stood up in the shallow water, and walked to shore.
During a search police found him in possession of a knife, and he was taken to the hospital for treatment to a cut on his leg. Police also found in the pouch of Watson’s military style vest a partial box of .22 calibre ammunition, a Baggie of suspected fentanyl, other drug paraphernalia and a rifle bullet.
That prompted a search of the lake in the area in which Watson jumped. LFES personnel taped off an area a few metres west of the boat docks and spent part of the morning using a remote-controlled camera to search the water between the shore and a small Island a short distance away. When that failed to find anything related to the incident, a diver entered the water and began a methodical search a few metres out from the shoreline.
By the afternoon divers, in what amounted to looking for a needle in a haystack, recovered a Winchester .117 C02 BB gun. Rouleau pointed out it was impossible to determine the gun’s origin.
Watson, who has a criminal record with convictions for uttering threats, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, obstruction of a peace officer, possession of stolen property and possession of a prohibited device, was sentenced to 87 days in jail for resisting a peace officer and possessing a prohibited firearm, but handed a suspended sentence and 12-month probation for the assault. During his probation he must attend for assessment and counselling for substance abuse, and he was ordered to submit a sample of his DNA for the National DNA Data Bank He is also prohibited for life from possessing weapons. Follow @DShurtzHerald on Twitter 4
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