By Andrew de Souza

Decision pending in case of assaulted off-duty officer

Jan 6, 2011 | 5:19 AM

A judge will decide whether or not Tyler Hansen of Buffalo Narrows assaulted off-duty RCMP officer Chris Hujber, or whether he was acting in self defense.

At issue is the night of June 20, 2010. After attending a bar, Hujber and his wife came home, while their neighbours were having guests over.

Three people, including Hansen attended the party next door to meet with someone and upon leaving and getting back in their vehicle, preformed what was described in court as stunting.

The court heard that Huber approached the vehicle on the passenger side, where Hansen was sitting, and began knocking with force on the window.

What happened next is not clear. Both defense and the crown agreed that Hansen got out and delivered between three and five punches to Hujber’s face and knocked him down, resulting in a broken ankle. Hansen was eventually pulled off of Hujber by the neighbours before leaving the scene.

Raiders AGM

Raiders impact on Prince Albert local economy continues to go up: AGM report

6h ago

Court proceedings

'The impact of this trauma will echo for generations': court case surrounding La Ronge woman's death reaches conclusion

Dec 11, 2024

Going Global

P.A.'s Zablocki named to Team Canada for U18 Women's World Championships

Dec 11, 2024

What’s up for debate is whether or not Huber had identified himself as a police officer. Whether or not Hansen is guilty of assaulting a police officer hinges on that.

Hujber had testified he couldn’t remember if he had identified himself, but his wife testified she had yelled it repeatedly during the incident.

Hansen’s lawyer Kathy Hodgson-Smith said Hujber’s poor memory was either a sign of intoxication from the time spent at the bar or poor police skills.

She said any reasonable person, at so late an hour would have reacted in a similar manner to Hansen.

“As far as (Hansen) was concerned, there was a civilian pounding on the door, in the dark of night, one foot taller and 40 pounds heavier in the shadows,” she said. “I suggest any reasonable person would be swinging.”

The crown prosecutor said the off-duty officer had acted as he should have and that the attack was unprovoked.

“Yes, (Hujber) is an off-duty officer,” he said. “But he believed alcohol was involved, there was dangerous driving and there was stunting and he saw it was his duty to intervene at that time.”
Hansen is facing one charge of assaulting a police officer, one charge of aggravated assault and one charge of breaching a court order.

He was originally charged with assaulting Hujber’s wife, but the charge was withdrawn.

At the time, Hansen was under court order to abstain from alcohol and keep the peace and has since been in custody. He remains in custody but will reappear in court on Jan. 17 for a decision.

adsouza@panow.com