On September 19 at 10:40 a.m., one man saw another man place a small child in the trunk of a vehicle at a strip mall in Yarmouth. The child was placed in the trunk and left there unattended while the man was inside a store. The man came out of the store a short time later and removed the child from the trunk and put her in the back seat of the car. The witness called police, and he confronted the man with a firearm he retrieved from his vehicle. He tried to keep the man from leaving with the child before police arrived but was unsuccessful. The entire interaction was captured on surveillance video.
Police arrested the witness for firearms offences. He was taken to the detachment for processing. RCMP made inquiries to locate the man and child, and found them in Yarmouth County. The man was arrested and taken to Yarmouth RCMP. The man and child are known to each other and the child was in the man's care at the time of the incident.
The man, a 33-year-old from Yarmouth, was released on conditions and is facing charges of:
- Criminal Negligence
· Abandonment
· Forcible Confinement
The witness, a 19-year-old man from Yarmouth, was released on conditions and is facing charges of:
- Careless Use of a Firearm
· Possession of a Weapon for a Dangerous Purpose
· Using a Firearm in the Commission of an Offence
Additional charges may follow. Both men will appear in Yarmouth Provincial Court on December 7, 2020. The investigation is ongoing.
File # 20201375600