The phone woke me up at 5:00 am, and my conversation with teleomns had me up and moving fast instantly. “Mark and Tracy are in a fight at the Northlands Hotel and they need help right away.” Out of bed in a flash, I pulled on socks, uniform pants and my soft body armor, not worrying about a shirt. I grabbed my duty belt, threw on my Regimental Parka and boots and headed out the door.
It was a cold night in La Ronge, approaching –40, and as I reached my truck I saw that my extension cord was lying on the ground instead of plugged into my block heater like it should have been. As I jumped in to the truck I hoped it would start as I didn’t relish a run across town, hoping I’d arrive in time to help. It started, and without waiting for anything I threw it into reverse, the oil in the engine and transmission probably more like ice cubes than oil, and sped to the hotel, the truck protesting all the way.
When I arrived outside the hotel I was met by Mark and another member, Wayne (Tracy’s husband), who told me that the suspect was on foot in the bush and that Tracy was over by the arena, so I turned around and headed over there to join her. When I got there, and parked by truck, Tracy filled me in on what happened.
Mark and Tracy had gone to the Northland’s Hotel on a complaint from the staff about a loud party in one of the rooms. When they arrived a young man, all of 5’7” was outside the room in question, pounding on the door. As they approached him the door to the room opened and he stepped inside, and as Tracy followed him in, he attacked. He grabbed Tracy and started hitting her and as Mark came to help he turned and pushed Mark, who stumbled and fell between one of the beds and the wall. Pinned in the small space Mark was unable to move (the beds were bolted to the floor) and Herman (his last name) jumped on top of him and began wailing away at his head. Tracy jumped on Herman’s back but when she tried to restrain him he bit her. He bit her so hard that he broke skin on her finger through her glove. She yanked her finger out of his mouth and stood up.
Now distracted, his attention turned back to Tracy, and he began punching her.
Mark was able to free himself from the bed, and grabbed the now disoriented Tracy and pulled her out into the hallway to regroup. At this point Herman also ran out into the hallway and grabbed a fire extinguisher off the wall. He then ran out the back door and into the bush.
While Tracy was relating this to me she had driven to the back of the Northlands. She pointed out the door he’d run out of with out any jacket on, and only runners on his feet, and that he’d run up the street, into the bush at the end of the block. The street ended at a ridge, with about a 20 foot drop into a wooded area. I asked her if the door locked automatically when it closed and she didn’t know.
As I got out of the truck I grabbed a Defensive Baton (which sounds so much friendlier than club, or blunt object, or even night stick) and went to the door. It was an awfully cold night, and I couldn’t imagine anyone staying out in it, dressed as he was. Tracy was following me and still relating the story when I opened the door, walked in, and turned the corner towards the front desk.
Tracy, later said that she wished she had a video camera with her to capture to look on my face as I rounded the corner. She knew instantly I had found Herman. He was standing in front of me, covered in snow, holding a fire extinguisher with the look of a wild trapped animal in his eyes.
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I’m looking forward to hearing the rest of this.