A Red Deer man faces two attempted murder charges after he’s alleged to have rammed a police car and attempted to strangle a woman early Monday.
The suspect appeared in Red Deer provincial court on Tuesday facing 13 offences.
RCMP said on Monday that a police officer shot at a vehicle shortly after 2 a.m. on Monday to stop a suspect who had allegedly rammed two police cars during an incident that started in Red Deer and ended on a rural road near Sylvan Lake.
Red Deer City RCMP received a complaint of an alleged domestic assault in the Oriole Park area at around 2 a.m. on Monday. Police said the man had indicated he would return to kill the woman and himself, but he allegedly fled in a stolen truck before officers arrived.
Court heard the suspect is alleged to have attempted to strangle the woman with a cord until she blacked out.
Red Deer City RCMP alerted other local detachments and Sylvan RCMP found the truck on a rural grid road. A pursuit began, with the truck driver ramming the Sylvan Lake police car in pursuit of him, smashing it to the point that the police vehicle couldn’t be driven. The police officer received minor injuries and was treated on the scene.
Another officer located the truck a short time later.
The suspect truck driver rammed the second police vehicle, forcing both the truck and police vehicle off the road and into a ditch.
Again the police vehicle was disabled by the crash and the truck driver again tried to continue driving the truck.
Const. Chris Kosack of Red Deer City RCMP said the officer feared grievous bodily harm or death to the public or the police if the suspect escaped and so he fired his service pistol at the truck’s tire, hitting it and disabling the vehicle, along a rural grid road near Sylvan Lake.
The truck driver then surrendered and was taken into custody.
The suspect is also alleged to have smashed his way through a door at an Oriole Park residence on Oct. 12 and confined the woman victim.
The alleged female victim is in a safe place and police are continuing their investigation.
Robert Neil McDonald of Red Deer returns to court on Friday to enter a plea.
Murray Shack, a Legal Aid Society of Alberta lawyer, told court that the accused is attempting to secure a lawyer to make a possible bail application.
McDonald is charged with two counts of attempted murder, failing to stop for police, dangerous driving, aggravated assault, two counts of unlawful confinement, assault with a weapon, which was the cord, theft of a motor vehicle valued at more than $5,000, three counts of mischief to property and uttering death threats.
The accused remains in custody.
jwilson@www.reddeeradvocate.com