A Princeton RCMP officer was confronted by a man wielding a knife in the early hours of Saturday, Jan. 28.

According to detachment commander Rob Hughes, the constable was conducting a traffic stop at 2:30 a.m. on Highway 5A when he “witnessed a male staggering down the highway towards the cruiser.”

Hughes said the man produced a knife and said: ‘I have this knife.’

The officer was on solo patrol.

“Fearing for his safety the constable directed the man to his knees, down to the ground, where he was taken into custody for possession,” Hughes said.

A search of the individual revealed a replica handgun tucked into the waistband of his pants, and a small amount of suspected Fentanyl and drug paraphernalia.

The knife, fake gun and suspected drugs were seized.

Hughes commended the officer for his handling of the situation.

“He did everything 100 per cent correct. He did everything he was trained to do.”

Hughes also stressed the potential danger involved in such a confrontation.

“Our ultimate goal is to deal with these situations with no injuries to us, the person we are dealing with or incidental injury to anyone in the public,” he said.

“Our officers have fractions of a second to make a risk assessment and find out what’s going on…All those unpredictable scenarios can just go out of control.”

Hughes acknowledged that in a rural area such as Princeton, it’s not uncommon for someone to have a pocketknife or a hunting knife on his or her person.

“But when you are approaching a police officer you don’t take it out.”

The investigation is continuing.

Hughes said it was the third time over the weekend that police had dealings with the individual.

The two previous incidents involved disturbances.

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