Can't recall attack
Police say 43-year-old was assaulted
Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Monday, February 13, 2017
HAY RIVER
The RCMP is looking for the public's help to solve an assault on Jan. 29 that left a man seriously injured and unable to recall the incident.
In a news release that day, the police reported they responded to a call about an injured male outside a residence.
The responding officers found a 43-year-old male with serious injuries.
He was transported to the Hay River Regional Health Centre for treatment and subsequently medevaced to Edmonton.
Const. Matt Halstead said the man knocked on somebody's door at the corner of McRorie Road and Stewart Drive, either to try to get help or possibly because he thought it was his residence.
"His injuries are consistent with an assault as opposed to a vehicle strike or something like that," said Halstead.
"We believe that he was assaulted."
The victim - who as of late last week was still in hospital - is co-operating with police but is unable to recall the events that caused the injuries.
"He doesn't know what happened to him," said Halstead, noting the victim has spoken to the RCMP in Edmonton two or three times to try and help police establish what might have happened.
"Right now he does not have any of those details clear in his mind as to what happened, or even really where he was prior to this."
The constable noted it is very rare for a person to be co-operative with police and to not know the attacker or attackers, or to at least provide a description.
However, the RCMP believes the male travelled from the downtown core of Hay River along the walking path near the Tri-Service Park towards the area of town in which he lives.
"We tried to look for a scene because given his injuries we don't suspect he was able to make it very far from where he was," said Halstead. "We couldn't find anything apparent and, of course, it snowed that night quite heavily. So any scene we had would've been lost."
The RCMP is asking for information from anyone who may have seen anything suspicious in the area of the walking path between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Jan. 29.
It doesn't appear that robbery was the motive of the assault, since the victim had some valuables on him and he is not aware of anything missing.
Halstead does not believe the victim might know the identity of the attacker or attackers and is keeping the information from police.
The constable noted the man provided a statement right away and has phoned the police in Edmonton and spoken to them twice more with little bits of information that he remembered.
"On the surface he's done everything he can to be extremely co-operative with us and, given the nature of his injuries, he's certainly interested in helping us in any way he can," said Halstead.
"I truly believe that he's unable to do so right now."
Anyone with information on the incident can call the Hay River RCMP at 874-1111, or contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477, on the Internet at: nwtnutips.com, orby texting: nwtnutips to 274637.
