The man arrested on a Canada-wide warrant in connection to the police pursuit south of Battleford on Thursday night has made his first court appearance.
The RCMP has confirmed that Randall Christopher Charles Nicotine, 33 years old from Edmonton, has been arrested in connection to the case. Nicotine has several charges against him including the following:
· Flight from peace officer (Section 320.17 CC);
· Possession of weapon for dangerous purpose (Section 88 CC);
· Using imitation firearm in commission of offence (Section 85(2) (a) CC);
· Forcible confinement (Section 279 (2) CC);
· Child endangerment (Section 218 CC);
· Dangerous operation of a motor vehicle (Section 320.13 (1) CC);
· Assault (Section 266 CC);
· Assault a police officer with weapon (Section 270(1) (b) CC);
· Driving while prohibited (Section 320.18 (1) (b) CC); and
· Resist arrest (Section 129 (a) CC).
The News-Optimist has confirmed Randall Christopher Charles Nicotine is the same individual named as Randall Christopher Nicotine, of the same birth date, seen in the “spectacular takedown” video that made the rounds of social media in 2016, when a suspect was taken down by RCMP at an intersection on 100th Street on April 4 of that year. He was later convicted of four counts of assault, assault with a weapon, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, resisting arrest and two breach of probation charges in that incident. He was sentenced to four years jail, less nine months remand time, in connection to that case.
With respect to this week’s, Nicotine made his first court appearance March 25 in North Battleford provincial court before Judge Bruce Bauer.
His matters were adjourned to Tuesday, March 26 at 11 a.m. for a scheduled show cause hearing, with Nicotine appearing by closed-circuit TV from Saskatoon.
The indication Monday was that Nicotine was seeking counsel to represent him. Legal Aid has since agreed to represent him for the show cause hearing.
Judge Bauer has scheduled Nicotine’s next court appearance for Wednesday morning, in person, in North Battleford provincial court.
The Saskatchewan RCMP has requested that the Moose Jaw Police Service conduct an independent, external investigation into the circumstances surrounding this incident which included the discharge of RCMP firearms. This request was made in the interest of transparency and public confidence. Additionally, the Saskatchewan RCMP has requested the Ministry of Justice appoint an independent observer. The Saskatchewan RCMP will not be making any further comment while the Moose Jaw Police Service conducts their investigation.
