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Drunken snowmobiler terrorizes Akulivik

Police use skidoo to arrest accused

JANE GEORGE

A drunken man careening around the streets on his snowmobile sent the 450 residents of Akulivik scrambled for shelter last Wednesday.

Deep frozen snow, wet roads and big puddles didn’t stop the man from driving around town at speeds up to 100 kilometres an hour.

The man was apparently upset over a drunken argument with his spouse, and fearful that he would be sent back to jail on a new assault charge.

When police tried to intercept the man, he taunted them and tried to run over them.

Capt. Larry Hubert of the Kativik Regional Police Force was off duty, spending the evening at home with his family. After following the mayhem over the radio, Hubert said he decided to go outside in an effort to stop the man.

“I heard the ‘whee-whee’ of the skidoo coming — I was in the middle of the road, and I thought he would stop, but he came right towards me,” Hubert said.

Hubert dove behind a truck for protection.

Police finally managed to push the man off his skidoo, but he then ran to the nearby hills, with the police pursuing him by skidoo.

The incident, which began at 8:15 p.m., ended about two hours later with the man’s arrest.

The man was not the only resident to race around Akulivik in a booze-fueled tear: a woman was arrested earlier in the evening after she had been speeding around on her snowmobile. Police apprehended her when she went back home to get another bottle of booze.

Last week, Akulivik received up to 25 boxes of booze, as shipments backed up due to bad weather on the Hudson Bay coast arrived at the same time.

The community, say police, is usually one of the least affected by alcohol-related violence.

In connection with the evening’s events, Samisa Qinuajuak, 35, faces eight charges — failure to stop a motor vehicle while being pursued by a peace officer, dangerous driving, assault with a weapon, assault, resisting arrest, impaired driving and uttering threats.

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