HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2016-11-23, Page 3Wednesday, November 23, 2016 • Huron Expositor 3
Shaun Gregory
OPP officers talk with the ambulance on standby at Hydro Road and North Line in Seaforth last
week.
Emergency Response Team (ERT) suited up for the standoff that lasted more than four hours. The
suspect was later apprehended without incident. He faces a number of violent charges.
Seaforth standoff man faces slew of charges, which are mostly to do with violence
Shaun Gregory
Huron Expositor
At about 1 p.m., a gloomy ambi-
ance filled the skies of the Sea -
forth area last Wednesday, not to
mention the following chilling
winds. Perhaps that's why a
selected few of the numerous
OPP officers were suited up in full
tactical army -like gear.
It's a wishful bliss to think the
cold temperatures had anything
to do with these high-tech get-
ups. On this day, weather had
completely no influence regard-
ing these highly trained police-
men's choice of protective attire.
With a canine barking in the
back seat of the marked OPP SUV,
two Emergency Response Team
(ERT) members quickly trans-
formed from a standard brigadiers
to front line commandos.
This all happened in the back
parking lot of Delta Power Equip-
ment, some employees were con-
cerned but still managed to call
friends or family in excitement to
explain exactly what they were
seeing.
The specific line of defence is
"there to ensure a safe outcome of
the investigation. It's a rural area,
which always makes it more diffi-
cult because we are dealing with
farms," explained Kees Wijnands,
media relation officer for the Perth
County OPP, a short time before
submitting the press release to the
public roughly 48 hours after the
incident.
If this happened to be in a more
contained area, Wijnands said the
numerous types of law forces
including plain clothed officers
would not have been necessary.
Parked squad cars with flickering
sirens surrounded the vicinity from
North Line and Hydro Road.
Down the strip towards Walton
on Bridge Road the exact scenery
of police presence secured the
thoroughfare.
Some concerned citizens pass-
ing by questioned if it was per-
chance an accident or if something
serious was happening, even the
crew of construction workers on
the road were told to leave without
reason.
At the time, not much informa-
tion from the authorities was given.
Though one thing remained
transparent --if you didn't have a
badge, gun and bulletproof vest
on—a U-turn or drive around the
surrounding area deemed to be the
only option.
The conversations were toned
down to a dull roar when it came to
comments directed to the media
and anybody that was curious.
However when a local decided to
drive through an opening on North
Line, one of the officers patrolling
the road could not keep it tight-
lipped anymore, as he took off run-
ning and hollering at the local to
"stop" in a frustrated voice.
He then pulled out a couple
pylons out from the trunk so this
error didn't occur a second time.
Seaforth Coun. Nathan Marshall
told the Expositor November 18 in
a phone interview he had heard
several comments calling the situa-
tion "over blown" in terms of how
many officers were involved.
It was alleged to him that this
was a domestic dispute and uncon-
firmed reports from sources in the
area say there might have been
some sort of bow and arrow along
with an axe in the four-hour
standoff.
"They need to be prepared if
there (are) weapons or anything
like that," he said.
A comprehensive undertaking
ea orthhuronex s ositor.co
was more than crucial seeing as
37 -year-old, Huron OPP Const. Vu
Pham died in 2010 from the result
of a shooting after a routine traffic
stop a few kilometers away from
last Wednesday's quarrel.
Fortunately this altercation did
not reach those heights of tragedy;
nevertheless a 40 -year-old male
from Huron East is facing a number
of serious charges stemming from
his violent offenses.
These include uttering threats to
cause death or bodily harm, pos-
session of a weapon for dangerous
purposes, cruelty to animals,
assault causing bodily harm, two
counts of assault with a weapon,
one count of assault and dangerous
operation of a motor vehicle.
The accused was recently
remanded in custody until a sched-
uled bail hearing November 21 at
10 a.m. in Goderich.
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