Co-accused in bus attack assaulted Mountie in 2021

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This article was published 23/01/2023 (1004 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A man accused of attacking a father and child on a city bus last week pleaded guilty two years ago to kicking a RCMP constable and taking a swing at another.

Clifford Mentuck, 31, and Nida Diane Kipling, 37, remain in custody, facing charges in the Jan. 19 assault on a Winnipeg Transit bus.

The father and his 10-year-old son were passengers aboard the vehicle when a male and female began randomly shouting obscenities at them, the Winnipeg Police Service said Jan. 20.

The assault escalated, and the man and boy were punched multiple times before the suspects fled. After exiting the bus, the male suspect returned briefly and slapped the father across the face, police said at the time.

Officers arrested two suspects nearby the stopped bus on the 500 block of Main Street.

Mentuck is charged with two counts of assault and one count of failing to comply. He appeared Monday in court in Dauphin. He was also wanted by RCMP on a warrant for two counts of break and enter.

On April 14, 2021, in Swan River, Mentuck pleaded guilty in provincial court to assaulting a peace officer and resisting a peace officer.

Court heard two RCMP officers went to arrest a heavily intoxicated Mentuck at his home Jan. 3, 2021, when they saw him walking off the property.

One officer got out of the police vehicle and told Mentuck he was under arrest; Mentuck grabbed the constable and swung his fist at him.

The officer’s partner tased Mentuck and he went to the ground, where they put him in handcuffs. He then began to roll on the ground, and kicked the constable in the arm, court heard.

Once the officers got him in their vehicle, he began to cough at them, telling them he had COVID-19.

Court was told Mentuck, who has four young children, is from Pelican Rapids.

He had worked for Sapotaweyak Cree Nation band council doing check stop security before he was arrested. He had been drinking and was not in his right mind the day he was arrested, court heard, having become upset about a dispute with his partner.

He had been in custody for 20 days, which counted as 30 days with credit. Judge Geoffrey Bayly sentenced him to his time in custody plus his appearance in court, and suggested he try to get his alcohol consumption under control.

Mentuck has also past convictions for failing to comply with probation conditions and unauthorized possession of a firearm, court records show.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @erik_pindera

Erik Pindera
Reporter

Erik Pindera is a reporter for the Free Press, mostly focusing on crime and justice. The born-and-bred Winnipegger attended Red River College Polytechnic, wrote for the community newspaper in Kenora, Ont. and reported on television and radio in Winnipeg before joining the Free Press in 2020.  Read more about Erik.

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