Saskatoon federal judge robbed, seriously assaulted in downtown carjacking

A 30-year-old man is facing a raft of charges after a federal judge in Saskatoon was seriously assaulted Tuesday in a downtown carjacking.

Brandon Wyatt Burns, from Keeseekoose First Nation, faces charges that include robbery and assault causing bodily harm. 

He is also charged with robbery after the Fas Gas Station on Highway 5, on the eastern outskirts of the city, was held up later the same morning.

Burns is also charged with stealing a second a truck, assaulting the driver with a weapon, leading RCMP on a high-speed chase, trying to ram their cruisers and resisting arrest.

Officers finally arrested Burns, using a stun gun on him, near the town of Liberty, Sask., about 140 kilometres southeast of Saskatoon.

Burns appeared in provincial court Thursday. When told he would be kept in custody until a bail hearing, he told Judge Brad Mitchell, "I should be released on bail now because you guys assaulted me yesterday."

The incidents that led to his arrest started Tuesday morning in downtown Saskatoon, near City Hall, when the federal judge was parking and a man tried to steal his truck. CBC is not naming the judge because he is a victim of crime.

The two men fought, with the judge injured seriously enough to be hospitalized.

According to court documents, the robber then held up the Fas Gas station at the junction of highways 5 and 41, and then headed east.

Humboldt RCMP got a report of the robbery shortly before noon Tuesday, according to an RCMP news release, and began an investigation.

They learned a man who was pulled over on the side of Highway 5 in his truck was approached by another man, who assaulted the person in the truck with a weapon and then stole the vehicle, RCMP say.

The carjacker left the vehicle he had been travelling in at the scene, which police say they determined had been reported as stolen in Saskatoon.

The injured man reported non-life threatening injuries to police, RCMP say.

Officers spotted the stolen truck again near Watrous, about 60 kilometres north of Liberty, and it sped off.

RCMP said the driver tried to ram cruisers and dodged a spike belt. When it eventually stopped, the driver resisted arrest and was subdued using a stun gun, RCMP said.

History of violence

Parole Board of Canada documents show Burns has a significant history of violence. He was given a prison sentence of four years, two months when he was 22 years old, after pleading guilty to aggravated assault during a home invasion.

The board deemed him dangerous enough that he served his full prison sentence.

Before that, he had been convicted of assaulting a three-year-old child. He also has weapons convictions involving a knife, a stolen firearm, a samurai sword and a machete.

While in prison, he was involved in violent incidents including an inmate assault, a major disturbance and a prison riot.

"You appear comfortable and to take pride in your criminal lifestyle," the parole board wrote.

"You lack empathy and remorse and are not interested in making changes, at this time."

Burns is due back in provincial court on Friday.