Man pleads guilty to assault, resisting peace officer

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on July 26, 2023.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A Lethbridge man who punched a woman and shot her with a BB gun, didn’t fare so well in a subsequent altercation with a police dog a few weeks later.

Kalan Michael Malmgren was with a group of people Aug. 9 of last year when he approached a woman in the 1100 block of Mayor Magrath Drive who was talking to her boyfriend on the phone. Malmgren asked if she was talking to him, and after she said no, he began arguing with her.

Eventually the woman swore at the man and told him to leave her alone, but he continued to try to pick a fight with her, then ran to his friends when the woman began yelling at him in Polish.

The group, however, walked toward the woman, and while they were yelling and screaming at her, Malmgren attacked her.

“One of the males eventually punched her in the face, and then pulled a pistol, later determined to be a BB gun, out of his waistband and shot her in the back twice,” Crown Prosecutor Lauren Atkinson said Tuesday in Lethbridge court of justice, where Malmgren pleaded guilty to charges of assault and resisting a peace officer.

Acting on information from another individual that Malmgren was the assailant, police went to his residence early in the morning on Sept. 3, and arrested him. While being escorted out of the apartment complex, Malmgren broke free and sprinted away along Scenic Drive South.

Although an officer chased the fleeing suspect, he lost him after he turned a corner. An hour later, however, Malmgren returned to his apartment where officers were waiting, and told him he was under arrest.

Malmgren took off again and was warned to stop or he would be bitten by a police dog. “Malmgren did not stop,” Atkinson said. “Police service dog Robby was utilized successfully to stop Malmgren from fleeing again.”

Lethbridge lawyer Marcus Mueller said his client, who turns 19 today, never knew his father and lived with his mother until he was placed in foster care when he was 10.

“And he doesn’t know why; he’s never been informed as to why that is,” Mueller said.

Malmgren is also receiving benefits through AISH, Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped, although he doesn’t know why, but believes it’s because he may have FASD and autism.

“He’s been heavily involved with social services since he was young.”

Malmgren was sentenced to six months in jail, but given credit for about four-and-a- half months he has already spent in remand custody, leaving 45 days so serve. He must provide a sample of his DNA for the National DNA Data Bank, and he is prohibited from possessing weapons for five years. He was also fined $100 for each of the charges, but allowed to served the default time in custody of one day each, satisfied by his court appearance.

Additional charges of assault with a weapon and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose were withdrawn.

When offered an opportunity to address the court, Malmgren said he hoped the woman he assaulted would be in court.

“I was looking for a chance to apologize to the victim, but if she isn’t present today then I guess I wouldn’t have anything to say.”

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