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Man charged with RCMP assault back in court

The man charged with assaulting a police officer is awaiting his next court appearance.

The man charged with assaulting a police officer is awaiting his next court appearance.

Ryan Kozuchar, 23, is back in provincial court March 30, 2015.

The alleged incident occurred shortly after 8 p.m. June 21, on the Barkerville Highway when police conducted a traffic stop of a suspected impaired driver.

The officer made the legal demand for the driver to provide a sample of his breath as part of the impaired driving investigation.

The driver allegedly refused to provide the required breath sample and was advised that he was under arrest for refusing to provide a breath sample. At this point, it is alleged that the then 67-year-old driver and his 23-year-old male passenger (Kozuchar) became combative and began striking the officer multiple times to the head. The police officer radioed for emergency backup. A second officer arrived on scene and came to his aid at which point the suspects fled into a residence.

Additional police personnel arrived quickly on scene and began tending to the injured officer while awaiting the arrival of BC Ambulance Services.

The injured officer was transported to G.R. Baker Hospital where he was treated for non-life threatening injuries including head injuries and a dislocated shoulder.

A perimeter was established around the residence and for the next four hours, police attempted to make contact with and negotiate the two suspects out of the residence.

Police entered the residence shortly before 2 a.m. and arrested the two males with the assistance of the police dog.

The 23-year-old male suspect sustained a minor laceration to his leg after he was bit by the police dog during the arrest.

He was transported to G.R. Baker Hospital by police where he received three stitches to his wound.