Mounties arrest and charge suspect in alleged Middle Sackville hate-motivated assault
MIDDLE SACKVILLE, N.S. — A 31-year-old man is facing charges after what Halifax RCMP are calling a hate-motivated assault at a Middle Sackville restaurant on Wednesday.
Officers responding shortly before 9 p.m. to the Sackville Drive business were told two men involved in a verbal altercation inside moved outside when one of the men reportedly used racial slurs against the other.
Outside, the man who used the slur allegedly used a “sensory irritant” on the other man before running off.
The victim, a 30-year-old Lower Sackville man, was treated for minor injuries at the scene.
The suspect, 31-year-old Scott Alonzo Merk, was located and arrested at the Halifax Transit terminal on Cobequid Road at about 11:15 p.m.
Mounties say their investigation indicates the offence was motivated by hate based on the victim’s race.
Merk has been charged with assault with a weapon, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, unauthorized possession of a prohibited weapon and possession of a weapon contrary to an order.
He appeared in court on Thursday and was remanded into custody to appear in Dartmouth provincial court again on Feb. 8.
