By Liam Verster

Mayerthorpe RCMP

Suspects charged with assault after coughing in RCMP officers face during arrest

Apr 13, 2020 | 9:35 AM

Mayerthorpe RCMP have laid assault charges against a pair of individuals, who allegedly coughed in officers’ faces while exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19.

On Friday, April 11, at 7 a.m., RCMP responded to a call of a suspect attempting to break into a residence, and causing mischief to several vehicles in the area of 46 avenue and 49 street in Mayerthorpe.

Officers located the suspect, who was showing symptoms of COVID-19. During his arrest, the suspect purposely coughed into an officer’s face.

The suspect was taken to hospital to be examined for a pre-existing injury, that police deemed in need of medical attention.

While at the hospital, a female visited the suspect. However, she became disruptive and had to be escorted out of the hospital, which is when she purposely coughed on an RCMP officer.

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A short time later, hospital staff reported the female was breaking into vehicles in the parking lot, and though she resisted, Mayerthorpe RCMP arrested the female. However, once apprehended, she caused extensive damage to the inside of the police vehicle. She was later found to be exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 as well.

20-year-old Jayden James Topley of Lac Ste-Anne, Alberta, has been charged with:

• Assault on a Police Officer
• Four counts of Mischief Under $5,000

Charlotte Gileen Mills, a 35-year-old woman of Barrhead County, Alberta, faces:

• Two counts of Assault on a Police Officer
• Resisting Arrest
• Mischief Under $5,000
• Mischief Over $5,000

Following judicial hearings, Topley was remanded into custody to appear in Stony Plain Provincial Court on April 15, where he will speak to bail. Mills, meanwhile, was released on a $2,000 cash bail and a number of release conditions, including house arrest. She is scheduled to appear in Mayerthorpe Provincial Court on June 25.