Second man arrested in alleged assault, confinement

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A second suspect – this one a 26-year-old man – was taken into custody and then later released by Saint John Police in an incident where a man was allegedly assaulted and held captive for two days at an encampment in Saint John’s south end.

In a media release Wednesday, city police said the second suspect was taken into custody and then released on an undertaking with conditions including to appear in court on July 30. This comes after police arrested a 37-year-old man earlier this week in connection to the incident.

The 42-year-old victim, who was found inside the encampment in the 100 block of Broadview Avenue by emergency crews on Friday afternoon, was transported to hospital and treated for non-life threatening injuries, Saint John police said in a Tuesday morning press release.

Police tape still hung around the entrance to an encampment in that stretch of Broadview Avenue on Tuesday. A worker at the scene, who didn’t want to be identified, told Brunswick News he and other workers had been cleaning up encampments in the area over the last few days and had called the police in on Friday for assistance.

According to court records, Christopher Rodney Williston, of no fixed address, was charged with aggravated assault by wounding Timothy Godin between April 20 and 26.

Williston appeared for a bail hearing on Monday and was released on conditions not to contact Godin, to report to police three times weekly, to abstain from carrying weapons and to appear in court on May 28, documents state.

– with files from Barbara Simpson and Andrew Bates