Syringe assault suspect sentenced on other charges
By Shurtz, Delon on March 12, 2020.
Delon Shurtz
Lethbridge Herald
A 29-year-old man accused of spraying a security guard in the face with a loaded syringe has been handed a short jail sentence in relation to a couple of other criminal offences.
Wade Allan Nicholas Cross Child was sentenced Wednesday in Lethbridge provincial court to 30 days in jail for breaching release conditions in relation to the assault charges against the security guard.
Court was told Cross Child, who was released shortly after he was arrested March 3, was ordered to stay away from the supervised consumption site where the assault occurred. The following day, however, he returned to the facility and was charged with failing to comply with an undertaking.
Cross Child also pleaded guilty to one count of shoplifting and was fined $500.
Less than an hour after he was released on the SCS assault charges, he walked into Shoppers Drug Mart, picked up $43 worth of Pizza Pops and ice cream bars, and left without paying.
Although he was fined for shoplifting, Cross Child chose to serve the default time of four days in custody, which will run concurrently with the 30-day sentence. He was also given credit for time he has already spent in custody, leaving him with 21 days to serve.
The accused is scheduled to return to court Friday on other charges, including aggravated assault, assault causing bodily harm and assault with a weapon, stemming from the incident at the consumption site.
Just after 6 a.m. March 3 police responded to a report that a security guard working at the SCS in the 1000 block of 1 Avenue South had been assaulted by a client.
Security approached a man in the waiting area after he began to inject himself, and since drug use is only permitted in the consumption area, the security guard told the man to stop and go into the supervised area. The man became upset and shot the contents of the syringe – blood and narcotics – into the security guard’s face before he was taken into custody.
The 22-year-old guard was treated at Chinook Regional Hospital and released, but will require ongoing treatment as a result of the exposure.
Police arrested a suspect at the SCS and seized the syringe. Cross Child faces yet more charges stemming from previous, unrelated offences, including robbery, drug possession and theft. Those charges will be in court Friday, as well, ostensibly for a bail and bail revocation hearing.
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