You have to admit, Dale Lakeman looks an awful lot like Wayne Babiuk.
Lakeman was walking down a street in Regina’s northeast industrial area earlier this week when he suddenly found himself surrounded by police officers.
“You look like Wayne,” Lakeman said one of the officers told him.
It turns out police thought Lakeman was Wayne Babiuk, who is currently wanted by RCMP in connection with a break and enter in Swan Plain, Sask.
Lakeman apparently bears an uncanny resemblance to Babiuk, so much so that the officers could not tell the difference, even up close. Lakeman soon found himself under arrest.
“Knowing that there’s a possibility that he could be armed and dangerous, the officer needs to look after his safety and that of the public around,” said Regina police Insp. Evan Bray.
The case of mistaken identity was cleared up after one of the officers did a search and confirmed that Lakeman was not the man police were looking for.
Lakeman says he’s worried about being mistaken for Babiuk again in the future, and police can’t offer any guarantee that the mix-up won’t happen again.
Based on a report by CTV Regina’s Dale Hunter
