Suspect to undergo evaluation

Allegedly shot up TV, set fire to motel room

New charges against a 22-yearold Edmonton man accused of firing a sawed-off shotgun at police include allegations he set fire to a motel room and shot the television, documents filed in provincial court say.

Redwater RCMP have laid 11 charges against Patrick Glenn Young in connection with a seven-hour standoff Christmas Day at the Red Rest Motel in Redwater, 60 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.

Young will undergo a fiveday psychiatric evaluation to determine if he is fit to stand trial, defence lawyer Hasaan Jomha said Friday outside the courtroom.

Young also faces 31 charges from Edmonton police, including four counts of aggravated assault against a police officer, two counts of aggravated assault against an unknown female vehicle passenger, and numerous firearms charges related to a sawed-off shotgun, court documents show.

Those charges are connected to a west-end traffic stop Dec. 23, when a man driving a Toyota 4Runner with a woman passenger got out of the SUV and shot at four police constables.

Police said they have identified the woman who was in the SUV.

Another 20 charges stem from events in Edmonton Sept. 27 and include assaulting a police officer, obstructing a police officer, escaping lawful custody, using a fake driver’s licence and weapons charges related to a spring-loaded knife, court documents show.

Young was sentenced in March 2009 to about two years in jail for robbery and was prohibited for life from having firearms.

Young did not appear Friday in provincial court, where he is facing a total of 62 charges in connection with the three incidents.

Jomha said he intends to request a more in-depth 30day evaluation to determine if Young can stand trial and also to assess his client’s mental capacity at the time of the alleged events. Young is being held in custody and is scheduled to appear in court next Friday.

Jomha said Young had “cuts and scrapes all over” when they met Thursday to discuss the case.

“He was set to appear in person, but there was an incident in cells this morning and he couldn’t appear,” Jomha said.

A note on the paperwork from a hearing held Wednesday in Edmonton said Young’s charges were not read there “due to Mr. Young’s emotional state.”

The latest RCMP charges include firearms-related charges, an arson charge for allegedly setting fire to a room in the Red Rest Motel and a mischief charge for allegedly shooting a motel television, court documents say. Young faces another four RCMP charges for breaching a recognizance, including conditions that he abide by a daily curfew, not consume alcohol or unprescribed drugs, and not possess a cellphone, pager or any electronic device that can send or receive electronic messages.

At about 9:20 p.m. last Sunday, police officers in west Edmonton stopped a Toyota 4Runner driving east on 100th Avenue near 159th Street. Seconds after the SUV stopped, the driver got out and shot at officers, police said. No officers or bystanders were injured.

Police returned fire, shattering the vehicle’s back window as it sped away. A tip then led police to the abandoned SUV about 4 a.m. Monday.

The investigation took officers to a motel in Redwater where a man barricaded himself in a room Dec. 25. The RCMP Emergency Response Team was deployed when the man fired shots.

Police took Young into custody after a standoff that ended about 2:30 p.m. No one was injured.