SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — A Summerside man will spend five days in jail for assaulting a cab driver.
Christopher Barry Norring, 40, earned another five days for resisting arrest, but those days will be served concurrently.
The court heard that Summerside police responded to a 911 call from a cab driver on Aug 16. Norring, who demanded the cab driver play music that he liked, was loud and rude. When the cabbie offered to call him another cab, Norring grabbed his shirt and put his fist up to the driver’s face.
Police found Norring in the back seat of the cab with a pint bottle of Jack Daniels Fireball in his hand. He appeared to be under the influence of alcohol and became belligerent when police arrested him.
“After the cuffs were applied, he began to pull away and started screaming at Mr. Singh (the cab driver) and onlookers,” said Crown attorney John Diamond.
Police told Norring he was resisting arrest, but it didn’t stop his struggles, and officers had to “take him to the ground,” said the Crown.
After a second officer arrived, together they managed to get Norring into the police vehicle.
“It appears that a large amount of alcohol was at the bottom of the problem here,” said Diamond.
Norring has a record with several related charges going back to 2013.
In addition to jail, Norring will serve 18 months of probation to deal with underlying problems with alcohol, said the Crown.
He must also write a letter of apology to the cab driver and pay $200 in victim surcharges.
“We can’t have cab drivers wondering if they’re going to be assaulted just because they are picking up passengers that are under the influence,” said Judge Krista MacKay.
