Man charged in assault after victim beaten and dragged in wooded area
Credit to Author: Stephanie Ip| Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2019 19:24:39 +0000
A man now faces a number of charges after a victim was beaten and dragged in a wooded area near Hope.
On Aug. 31, Hope RCMP received a call reporting a victim had been assaulted and dragged along the ground in an area near Lake of the Woods, about 5 kilometres north of Hope.
Police were able to identify a suspect who was linked to a vehicle stolen just days earlier and who had failed to stop for police the morning of the assault. Officers then found and arrested the suspect later that week, in the 200-block of Robertson Crescent.
The investigation then led police to execute a search warrant on three other properties in the following days. The three searches yielded a number of items including sporting goods, gas power tools, hand tools, firearms, ammunition and a bicycle. Many of those items were linked to stolen-property investigations and the Aug. 31 assault file.
Jacob Paul Sihata, a 19-year-old Hope resident, is charged with possession of stolen property under $5,000, driving while disqualified, flight from police, assault causing bodily harm, uttering threats, forcibly seizing a person, possessing a firearm without licence and/or registration, and occupying a vehicle knowing a firearm is present.
Sihata remains in custody and will appear in court this month. Investigators say more charges are possible, as the probe continues.
“Fortunately the victim of the alleged assault was examined by medical personnel and released from hospital,” said RCMP Staff Sgt. Karol Rehdner.
“Hope RCMP officers worked relentlessly gathering evidence during our investigations into a recent spike of theft and break-and-enter reports received by police.”