A Hep C-infected drug addict and convenience store robber who tried to bite a police officer in a Red Deer jail cell was sentenced to five years in prison on Wednesday.
Bradley Adrian, 43, was on trial in Red Deer provincial court on Wednesday for two charges of assaulting a peace officer that were laid after he got belligerent with police while he was housed in a jail cell at the police detachment.
The incident occurred the day after he was arrested after robbing one convenience store and trying to rob a second on May 8.
In the first incident, he held up a clerk with a knife at Husky gas station about noon and made off with $300. About six hours later, he tried to rob a 7-Eleven with a knife but the clerk said there wasn’t any money so he fled empty-handed. He was arrested later that day.
In August, Adrian pleaded guilty to two robbery-related charges and sentencing was adjourned until Wednesday’s court appearance on the assault charges.
Closed-circuit video footage from the jail cell was shown to the court. In it, Adrian can be seen acting very aggressively and must eventually be subdued by several officers.
RCMP Cpl. Peter King testified that he went into Adrian’s cell after another officer told him the prisoner was trying to commit suicide. Adrian had torn strips from the mattress and was trying to strangle himself.
King got the strips off his neck, but was then attacked. Adrian swore at him and said he was going to bite the officer. He tried to sink his teeth into King’s thigh but the officer held him off and then punched him in the head to get him to back down.
Hep C is an infectious disease primarily affecting the liver that is spread by blood-to-blood contact. It can lead to cirrhosis of the liver and other life-threatening ailments.
Adrian was eventually restrained in a chair and put in a spit hood to prevent him from spitting at the officers.
In another incident the same morning, Adrian, who was a drug addict going into withdrawal, screamed at officers and had to be restrained. He tried to gouge one officer’s eye before he could be brought under control.
Provincial court Judge Jim Mitchell said there was no doubt Adrian was guilty of the assaults based on the evidence.
He pointed out King went into the cell to save Adrian’s life only to be attacked. If the officer had lost his grip on Adrian for a second, the prisoner could have bitten him and inflicted a grievous and possibly life-threatening injury, said Mitchell.
Adrian was also clearly violent and aggressive before the other assault and the officer trying to calm him down showed “remarkable restraint” before three officers eventually had to hold the prisoner down to get him into restraints.
Mitchell sentenced Adrian, who has a lengthy criminal record, to three years for the Husky robbery and four years for the 7-Eleven attempt to run concurrently. He also got six months each for the assaults to run consecutively.
Adrian was given credit for seven months in custody, leaving him with 53 months left to serve in a federal penitentiary. He must also provide a sample of his DNA to a national database and has a lifetime weapons prohibition.
pcowley@www.reddeeradvocate.com