A Leamington man has pled guilty to multiple charges following an incident in Belle River over the Canada Day long weekend in 2023 where an officer's rifle was stolen.
Noah White, who was 21-years-old at the time, has pleaded guilty to seven charges including dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, two counts of unlawfully being in a residence, assaulting police with a weapon, disarming a peace officer, possession of a prohibited firearm, and breaching a release order.
While running through people's homes, witnesses stated White suffered self-inflicted stab wounds to the chest.
According to the Agreed Statement of Facts from the Windsor Crown Attorney's Office, White had broken into a number of homes. At one point, he took a knife and stabbed himself in the neck. At another home, he stole a screwdriver.
He then encountered two OPP officers, White approached the cruiser and began stabbing a female officer in the hands and neck. She then reached for her rifle, ready to fire in self defence but White grabbed the weapon and fled. The gun was later found abandoned on St. Pierre Street.
Police found White, who had jumped into the water of the Belle River, suffering from serious self-inflicted wounds and yelled at the officers to shoot and kill him.
Officers were able to get White out of the water and began life-saving measures, he was eventually arrested and charged with 18 offences.
White will be sentenced at a later date, and remains in custody at the South West Detention Centre. The Crown says it will withdraw the remaining charges after sentencing.
The Crown Attorney says White has a criminal history. In Dec. 2020, he was charged by Windsor Police for trafficking cocaine. And in February 2021, he was charged with a number of violent offences by Kingston Police such as assault, armed robbery, and others; those offences are still before the courts.