While most people filmed the altercation, one bystander stepped in and helped police during an arrest attempt that became violent Christmas Day, leaving one officer with a slash above the shoulder and another with a lower body injury.
Ridge Meadows RCMP say that just before 4 p.m., police answered a call about a woman causing a disturbance at a restaurant at Lougheed Highway and 227th Street in downtown Maple Ridge.
One officer arrived and saw the woman acting erractically and trying to hurt herself with a sharp metal object, then run into traffic.
As the woman was being arrested, she tried to get the officer’s handgun which was still in its holster. The officer tasered the woman but that didn’t work.
Read more: Citizen helps Ridge RCMP officer in altercation
“Several bystanders were filming the incident on their cellphones, when another citizen arrived on scene, got out of their car and immediately jumped in to assist the officer in attempting to control the suspect, until backup police members arrived,” Insp. Allison Good said in a Friday news release.
More officers showed up, along with a police dog, but the woman “continued to be combative, resisting apprehension.”
During that struggle, one of the officers was slashed above the shoulders, requiring seven stitches at the hospital, while a second officer received a lower body injury.
Supt. Jennifer Hyland said police always encourage the public to allow the police to do their job but, “we can’t help but be ever so thankful to this citizen, this good Samaritan, who stepped in and assisted our officer.
“We are incredibly grateful to this person for their courageous actions,” Hyland said.
The female suspect also was taken to hospital.
pmelnychuk@mapleridgenews.com
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