A worship leader at a Saskatoon United church is facing more than a dozen charges in connection with an armed motel robbery.
RCMP arrested and charged Mark Zielke, 41, along with Tyson Moore, 41, and David Dominguez, 44, after the April 5 robbery.
Police say three suspects walked into a business in North Battleford, Sask., and threatened an employee with a firearm. One employee was assaulted and later treated for non-life-threatening injuries at a hospital. Cash, electronics, IDs and financial cards were stolen.
Court documents obtained by the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix identified the business as the Hitching Post Motel.
Charges include two counts of assault with a weapon, one count of robbery with a firearm and one count of forcible confinement.
Zielke provided pastoral care and musical leadership at St. Paul’s United for over a decade but, following the charges, has been put on paid administrative leave, according to lead minister Rev. Mitchell Anderson. He has been removed from all church-related activities. In addition to working at the church, Zielke also campaigned to be Saskatoon’s mayor in 2020. He also offers legal services through his business, Living Sky Advocates, although he is not a lawyer.
“The people of St. Paul’s are experiencing a broad range of emotions – shock, anger, betrayal,” Anderson told Broadview. To process the recent events, we are “really coming together to support one another and we are focused on what God is asking us to do to make a difference for our community.”
He says that “our prayers are with the victims of this incident. No one should be subject to violence at their place of work.”
Zielke has been released on bail and will appear in provincial court in North Battleford on April 28, according to CTV News.
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Evgenia Shestunova is an intern at Broadview.
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