P.E.I. man pleads guilty to assault in case connected to Amber Alert
Andrew Blaisdell scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 22
A P.E.I. man whose actions led police to issue an Amber Alert across the Island in 2023 has pleaded guilty to assaulting the mother of his children with a weapon, among other charges.
Andrew Blaisdell's case was scheduled for trial in the Supreme Court of P.E.I. on Wednesday but he instead pleaded guilty to eight different offences, including some committed last fall while he was briefly released from custody.
According to the agreed statement of facts read out in court, Blaisdell showed up at the eastern P.E.I. home of the mother of his two children in the early morning hours of June 20, 2023.
He was on drugs, paranoid and carrying a shotgun, the court heard.
Blaisdell got into an altercation with the mother and the two struggled over the shotgun. At one point, Blaisdell pushed the gun against her chest.
The woman eventually ran from the home, wearing no coat or shoes, and hid in the woods nearby. She stayed there, as the temperature dipped to 6 C, until police arrived just after 5 a.m. She was treated at the scene for superficial scratches and mild hypothermia.
Meanwhile, Blaisdell took off in a vehicle with their young daughter while their adult son called 911 from a neighbour's home.
That led RCMP to issue an Island-wide Amber Alert, saying a man had reportedly abducted a girl.
Blaisdell and the girl were located at a home near Souris using GPS vehicle tracking just hours after the alert was issued.
Violated no-contact order
Blaisdell pleaded guilty Wednesday to a total of eight counts, including assault with a weapon and other firearms-related charges.
Some of those charges were for offences committed in September 2024 when Blaisdell stole a vehicle while briefly released from custody.
He was also charged for violating a judge's order not to contact his adult son. According to the agreed statement of facts, Blaisdell's mother facilitated a three-way call between Blaisdell and his son while Blaisdell was in custody. During the call, Blaisdell repeatedly encouraged his son not to testify against him.
Blaisdell will remain in jail until his sentencing hearing scheduled for Jan. 22.
Corrections
- A previous version of this story stated that the agreed statement of facts indicated shots were fired at the ceiling during the struggle over the shotgun. In fact, the statement reads that, when searching the home, RCMP found "holes which had been put in the wall and ceiling of the living room area as a result of the struggle over the shotgun" and "an empty 12-gauge shotgun shell casing on the right-hand side of the basement stairwell which had previously been discharged from a shotgun."Jan 17, 2025 3:16 PM EST
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With files from Steve Bruce