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The Kelowna RCMP say that charges have been laid against a 30-year-old Calgary man who allegedly assaulted a toddler Sunday afternoon in Kelowna’s Kerry Park.
At 2:27 p.m., Kelowna RCMP responded to the waterfront of Kerry Park for reports of an assault and a disturbance at that location.
Witnesses at the scene told police that a male allegedly grabbed onto a small child, who was with their mother.
The BC Prosecution Service has approved criminal charges of assault and willfully resisting or obstructing a police officer against Harold Giffen Nyren of Calgary, Alta.
Nyren is a professional hockey player and a former Kamloops Blazer. He played for the WHL team from 2008 to 2010.
Witnesses in the area told police that he allegedly seized a child being held by its mother.
After a struggle to reclaim the child, he jumped into Okanagan Lake and swam away, witnesses report.
Officers tried to negotiate with the suspect, who had isolated himself on a log boom, before apprehending him with assistance from the Kelowna Fire Department's rescue vessel.
According to RCMP, the child appeared uninjured and was later released from hospital following a medical examination.
Nyren has been remanded into custody and made a court appearance this morning.
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