An arrest warrant has been issued for a Red Deer man who was to have been tried this week on charges laid after a standoff with police late last year.
Dixon Bergseth, 33, was to have been tried on a variety of weapons charges stemming from an incident in West Park on Dec. 22, when it was alleged that he had assaulted a woman inside a home shortly before noon inside a bungalow at 39th Street and 55th Avenue, about one block away from West Park Elementary School.
The house was subsequently surrounded by police and that area of the neighbourhood was blocked off.
Red Deer City RCMP alleged that Bergseth surrendered about six hours later, roughly five minutes after a stun grenade was launched into the house.
Assault charges were later stayed, with Dixon ordered to stand trial on weapons charges including possession of a loaded, restricted firearm and carrying a concealed weapon.
Bergseth was to have been tried in Red Deer provincial court by judge alone, starting Monday morning. However, the trial did not proceed after he failed to appear.
Defence lawyer Walter Kubanek told Judge Darrell Riemer that he had not spoken with his client since February and asked to be removed as his counsel of record.