Man accused of assaulting Saskatoon judge was wanted on earlier assault charge at time of attack

CBC

04-04-2025

Saskatoon police were already on the lookout for 30-year-old Brandon Wyatt Burns when a federal judge was violently assaulted in a downtown carjacking on Tuesday — a crime Burns is now accused of — according to court documents.
The Keeseekoose First Nation man had been charged with assault causing bodily harm in Saskatoon on March 5. He was released on an undertaking that stipulated he must not contact the female complainant and was required to appear in domestic violence court.
He appeared for his first court date on March 11, but did not show up for a second appearance on March 25.
That's when Saskatchewan provincial court Judge Marilyn Penner issued a bench warrant for him, the court documents show.
Earlier this week, RCMP issued a news release detailing accusations against Burns involving a gas store robbery and a carjacking in rural Saskatchewan on Tuesday.
Saskatoon police are now providing a timeline of what they say happened in the hours leading up to that.
Around 10:30 a.m., officers were called about an assault in the 300 block of Third Avenue N., police wrote in an email.
They found an injured 71-year-old man being treated by paramedics, who told the officer an unknown man had gotten into his truck while the 71-year-old was trying to park, police said.
The man struck the victim several times before the victim got out of his truck, and the attacker then fled in the silver Dodge Ram.
An hour later, police allege the same man robbed a gas station on the outskirts of town.
Police say their investigation determined he went into the store to make a purchase, but an employee "refused service" due to the man's "lack of funds," according to police.
The man then struck the employee and stole the product before fleeing in a silver Dodge Ram, Saskatoon police said.
RCMP said earlier this week they got a report of the robbery shortly before noon Tuesday.
They later learned a man who was pulled over on the side of Highway 5 in his truck was assaulted and had his vehicle stolen as well.
After a high-speed chase, the second stolen vehicle was eventually stopped near Liberty, Sask., about 140 kilometres southeast of Saskatoon, and Burns was arrested, RCMP said.