Man charged with assault after picketer pushed by car in RM of Tache

RCMP have arrested a man accused of refusing to stop for people walking on a picket line in the Rural Municipality of Tache, then “pushing” a picketer with his vehicle. 

Mounties from the St. Pierre-Jolys detachment were called to a picket line on Road 52 North at about 1 p.m. on Monday, where they were informed of the assault. Officers learned the victim, a 54-year-old man from Oak Bluff, fell near a ditch after he was hit by a vehicle.

RCMP said the victim approached the driver, who pushed him to the ground before getting back in his vehicle and leaving. The victim suffered minor injuries.

Mounties say the suspect, a 68-year-old man from the RM of Ste. Anne, was charged with assault and assault with a weapon. He was released ahead of a court date in Winnipeg.

Members of the Operating Engineers of Manitoba Local 987, who work at the RM of Tache’s waste management facilities and for its public works department, went on strike Monday morning.