He must have been having a very bad day. An extremely bad day.
On Saturday night, about 6:55 p,m., a man drove a stolen backhoe into the parking lot of the Bonnyville RCMP.
And then his "fun" was just beginning.
"The suspect then headed to the detachment, picking up boulders along the way. He then dumped several boulders in front of the prisoner bay of the detachment, believed to be an attempt to delay officer’s ability to respond to calls," said Cpl. Gina Slaney.
"He then drove the trackhoe into 5 unoccupied parked police vehicles, making them inoperable. The suspect then fled from the detachment on foot."
"Containment was set up and the search began for the suspect. A short time later, PDS Chase located the suspect hiding in a tree line just north west of the detachment. During his arrest, the suspect resisted and fought officers, and as a result, he was bitten by PDS Chase. Once in custody, he was taken to a local hospital to get treated for minor injuries and was released."
David Merko, 62, a resident of Bonnyville, has been charged with 13 criminal code offences:
Dangerous driving
Mischief over $,5000 (x6)
Break and enter
PSP over $5,000
Theft over $5,000
Obstruct/resist peace officer (x2)
Utter threats
The last charge of uttering threats was as a result of an April 17 incident in which Merko called OCC (dispatch) in Saskatchewan and allegedly uttered threats to kill RCMP officers.
After a Judicial Interim Release Hearing, Merko was remanded into custody for Alberta Court of Justice in Bonnyville on May 6, 2025.
“Incidents like this can be frightening for communities. In this instance, we believe there was no threat to the public and the RCMP was the target. Alberta RCMP officers from neighbouring detachments did not hesitate to assist to ensure the suspect was quickly taken into custody, as well as assisting with ensuring on-going police service in Bonnyville," said Detachment Commander Staff Sgt. Sarah Parke.
"This incident has garnered a lot of attention on social media, and unfortunately, many of the comments are negative, some of which are threatening towards RCMP to the point of expressing disappointment that officers were not injured or killed during the incident. All RCMP officers come to work, day in and day out, to protect and serve their community. It is extremely disheartening to see these types of comments made."
Alberta RCMP have seen a steady increase in violence towards police in recent years. Most recent statistics indicate that on average, there are 2.3 incidents of violence occurring every day towards Alberta RCMP officers.
In 2023, 70 Alberta officers were injured as a result of use of force incidents.