Guy Quenneville
Northern News Services
Friday, June 29, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - A man was beaten and robbed last week, one of a number of assaults over four days last week.

Other incidents included a man who may have been attacked with a pipe, a woman swarmed by four men and a man being shot with a pellet gun.

RCMP Const. Roxanne Dreilich said there were 15 assault complaints from June 18-25. During the week, there were 311 total calls for service, one-third higher than the 207 calls during the previous week.

"I did expect that there would be a rise in the number of occurrences just because of what was going on and certainly with the weather," said Dreilich, referring to festivities around National Aboriginal Day.

"Once we get these warmer temperatures, people are out and about later and later through the evenings. It's a trend we were expecting."

Many of the assaults recorded last week occurred after 6 p.m. or early in the morning.

At 8 p.m. June 22, a man reported that he was beaten up and robbed of money in the parking lot by Capital Suites on Franklin Avenue. Dreilich said the man gave the first name of a suspect, whom police were unable to locate.

On June 21, a 38-year-old man walking home from the bar with his son at about 3 a.m. said he was attacked by a group of males in the 4000 block area of Franklin Avenue. According to police, the man was beaten with fists and possibly a pipe. The victim refused to be taken to hospital.

The next day, a 31-year-old woman went to the police station with injuries to her face, saying she had been assaulted by her 36-year-old boyfriend. She later refused to give a statement to police.

Between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. June 23, 21-year-old woman taking her dogs for walk along 52 Street near 47th Avenue was confronted by what she described as four aboriginal males. The woman told police the men tried to take her dogs and pushed her in the chest. Police said that when the woman turned to run away, she was punched in the back.

Other incidents recorded last week included an assault on a 25-year-old woman across from the Centre Square Mall who was approached from behind by another woman, knocked to the ground, punched and kicked.

On June 24, 37-year-old man "believed he was shot at with a pellet gun by someone driving past in a vehicle" while standing outside the Corner Mart on 50th Street, said Dreilich.

That same day, an argument between two women escalated to the point where a 20-year-old is accused of attacking a 23-year-old, leaving her with scratches on the neck.