A 20-year-old man is facing criminal charges after the site of a new police station for the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory Police was torn up by a fork-lift, The Intelligencer has learned.
Around 4 p.m. Monday, a contractor arrived at the site of the new police station - which is currently under construction on York Road - to find a man ripping apart a driveway culvert using a fork-lift. When confronted, the suspect drove away from the scene in the machine.
Tyendinaga Police were called and located the man, who was still driving the forklift, a short distance away.
Following a scuffle with the arresting officer, the man was taken into custody and held for a bail hearing in Belleville, Tuesday.
Charged with mischief, resisting arrest, possession of marijuana, possession of a prohibited weapon and impaired driving is Jay Dante Wille, 20, of Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory.
Wille was released from custody with a June 5 court date in Belleville to face the charges.
Damage was estimated to be upwards of $2,000 to the culvert.
Meanwhile, Tyendinaga police officers are continuing an investigation into the ownership of the fork-lift and how it came to be in Wille's possession.
In a separate incident at a demonstration by native protesters in April, provincial police were called to an area of Lower Slash Road after a trench was dug across the thoroughfare by another piece of construction equipment.
In that incident, provincial police are also looking into who provided the back-hoe to protesters to dig that trench.
Neither department would confirm if the two incidents are related.