Officer was head butted during arrest, court told
A young Whitehorse man accused of setting fire to a truck in Porter Creek remains behind bars after a judge refused him bail.
A young Whitehorse man accused of setting fire to a truck in Porter Creek remains behind bars after a judge refused him bail.
Daniel Arnold is charged with a number of offences, including assaulting a police officer, mischief and arson.
He was first arrested on June 27 after a downtown resident called police to report someone vandalizing city property in Rotary Peace Park.
Officers did foot patrols of the park area, then moved into Riverdale, where they eventually encountered three teenaged boys who fit the description given by the complainant.
Arnold was one of the boys, and police described him as having "a very strong odour of liquor on his breath and glossy, glazed eyes.”
The other two boys allegedly told the officers that Arnold had found a sledgehammer near The Old Fire Hall and used it to smash two pickets from a fence around a nearby city building.
One of them apparently told police Arnold "gets stupid when he drinks.”
The officers cuffed Arnold, who allegedly gave one of the arresting officers a head butt as he tried to search Arnold's pockets, Crown prosecutor Thomas Lemon told the court during Arnold's July 20 bail hearing.
The 19-year-old was released on conditions, but was back in trouble a few weeks later.
Early on Monday, July 11, police received a call from a Porter Creek resident reporting a vehicle fire, the seventh during the July 9-10 weekend alone.
According to the Crown's account of the incident, a resident of Elm Street went to his window after hearing a commotion outside and saw three youths standing around a truck in a neighbouring driveway.
He quickly wakened his neighbours and tried to stop the boys from running away.
The man got into a tussle with Arnold, and the young man allegedly struck the neighbour twice in the head and got away.
The owner of the truck chased down the other two boys, tackling them to the ground and holding them until police arrived. Meanwhile, another neighbour found a fire extinguisher and managed to put out the blaze in the truck.
There were three cans of racing fuel in the back of the truck, and more fuel in several of the other vehicles in the driveway, the Crown told the court during the hearing, and if the flames had gotten out of control, the fire likely would have caused far more damage than it did.
According to the Crown, the two other boys said they came upon Arnold pouring lighter fluid on the truck and moved away because they didn't want to get caught with him.
None of the allegations against Arnold have been proven in court, nor admitted to by Arnold.
The truck fire was just one of a rash of fires in Whitehorse that weekend.
On the night of Friday, July 8, one motorcycle and a truck were burned, and on the Saturday, three motorcycles and a car were set on fire.
Arnold has not been charged with any of the other fires, and his lawyer pointed out there is no evidence to connect him to the crimes.
But the charges at hand were enough to convince a territorial court judge to keep Arnold behind bars.
His next court date has not been set.
By Justine davidson
Star Reporter
Comments (3)
Up 0 Down 1
Groucho d'North on Aug 5, 2011 at 1:45 pm
As this miscreant is not a juvenile protected by his age, perhaps a policy of publishing their photos would contribute to reducing further criminal acts by others.
Too many of these offenders are hiding in plain sight of the community.
Up 0 Down 1
Joanne Fraser on Aug 4, 2011 at 1:56 pm
I would just like to say that as being the home owner to where this occurred I am glad the kid is still in jail, and as far as the other two kids go I think they were just as involved the one kid was caught inside of the truck that was set on fire....and they say they are innocent...! Where are the kids parents or in this case GUARDIANS at 3 in the morning...obviously not being responsible parent's and knowing the where a bouts of their children. Thank god for our neighbor who awoke to the sound of the lighter fluid can being thrown into his yard. Like stated in the article there were cans of race fuel in the truck as well as 3 vehicles all parked side by side of the truck on fire. Some peoples kids. Before you do something so stupid you should maybe think about what your doing first....that could of been my home and my life as well as the lives of my husband and SMALL CHILDREN!!!!!
Up 1 Down 0
JC on Aug 4, 2011 at 1:24 pm
I'm surprised the cops didn't arrest the man who tackled Daniel Arnold with assault.