ESKASONI: A We’koqma’q First Nation resident is facing a long list of charges after an incident here earlier this week.
On Tuesday night, at around 10:20 p.m., Eskasoni RCMP said they received a report of a disturbance at a home on Canal Drive in Eskasoni.
“RCMP officers learned that a man, involved in an altercation with a woman, had left the home with a firearm in a black backpack,” the RCMP said in a press release issued today.
The RCMP said officers located and arrested the man at another home on Canal Drive.
“With assistance from Cape Breton Regional Police Service Canine Unit, the backpack, firearm and ammunition, were located in the woods near John Pauls Lane,” the RCMP noted. “As the investigation progressed, RCMP officers learned that the man had assaulted the woman prior to this incident.”
Dawson Alexander Bernard, 23, was charged with: assault; forcible entry; careless use of a firearm; possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose; carrying a concealed weapon; unauthorized possession of a firearm; unauthorized possession of a prohibited weapon or restricted weapon; possession of a firearm while knowing possession is unauthorized; possession of prohibited weapon, device, or ammunition knowing its possession is unauthorized; possession of a firearm contrary to a prohibition order; and two counts of failure to comply with an undertaking.
Bernard was remanded in custody and appeared in Sydney Provincial Court today, the RCMP noted.
“A remand warrant was used during today’s appearance, and Mr. Bernard is scheduled to return to Sydney Provincial Court on March 28, 2023 for a bail hearing,” added Melissa Noonan, Communications Advisor for the Nova Scotia Public Prosecution Service in an email to The Reporter.