Five charged over attack on man who tried to help assault victim

A Yellowknife store employee who intervened to stop an assault was then attacked himself, police said on Wednesday.

Witnesses said a longtime employee of Bruno’s Pizza, on 53 Street, stepped in when an altercation developed among a group of people at the store on June 13.

“The employee was then swarmed and assaulted,” RCMP said in a press release.

While police initially stated the incident happened outside the store in the early afternoon, two people with knowledge of what took place said the assaults happened shortly before midnight and occurred inside the store. (RCMP later issued a correction confirming the location was within the store and the time of the incident was 11:51pm.)

Both the person initially assaulted and the employee required hospital treatment for minor injuries, police said.

Five people, including four adults and one youth, were arrested and charged, RCMP said. The five were not named in Wednesday’s press release.

Police said charges laid include assault causing bodily harm, assault with a weapon, assault, and mischief under five thousand dollars.

According to RCMP, the four adults are expected to make court appearances on July 26.

In a statement, police said the number of people charged may yet increase.

“This investigation remains open and investigators are reviewing surveillance footage to determine if anyone else was involved in this incident,” RCMP stated.

Anyone with information about the attack is asked to contact the Yellowknife detachment at (867) 669-1111 or leave a tip anonymously.