A Vancouver police officer was bear-sprayed during an attempt to apprehend a female suspect between Yaletown and the West End on Friday.

The Vancouver Police Department stated in a news release issued today (September 16) that after 6:30 p.m. on September 13, an officer spotted a female, who is wanted B.C.–wide on an outstanding warrant, in the 1200 block of Granville Street.

When the police officer attempted to take her into custody, she became combative.

The officer called for emergency back-up as the female suspect continued to fight and resist.

The suspect then fired bear-spray into the officer’s eyes. Despite the spray, the officer managed to hold on to the suspect until other officers arrived.

The assaulted officer was taken to hospital for treatment and was released later that evening.

Janine Renata Firth, a 36-year-old Vancouver woman, has been charged with carry, use, or threaten to use a weapon in assaulting a peace officer, resisting arrest, and possessing a weapon. 

Other recent assaults upon Vancouver officers have taken place in the nearby West End.

On September 11, when officers were arresting a 23-year-old male suspect on Pendrell Street after a homicide investigation in the same block, police allege that the suspect assaulted a police officer and attempted to injure a police dog. 

Prior to that incident, on August 21, two officers were assaulted as they attempted to arrest a male suspect who was behaving bizarrely near Sunset Beach. The suspect, 50-year-old Frank Pacella, who allegedly bit and punched officers, was arrested and charged.