Former junior hockey player charged with assault in bizarre child-grabbing case

Man who allegedly snatched baby charged, ID'd A man who allegedly snatched a baby and then jumped naked into Okanagan Lake has been charged and identified.

A former minor-league hockey player has been charged after a bizarre string of incidents, including allegedly trying to snatch a baby in a downtown Kelowna, B.C. park.

The man allegedly grabbed a young child away from his mom at Kerry Park on Sunday afternoon, then left the child and proceeded to strip naked and tried to swim away into Okanagan Lake.

Police say they arrested him after officers coaxed him closer to shore.

"It certainly is a bizarre incident," Kelowna RCMP Cpl. Jesse O'Donaghey told CTV Vancouver. "It's not something that happens here."

O'Donaghey said the accused appeared distraught and that “it took quite some time for officers to negotiate and eventually take him into custody."

Harold Giffen Nyren, 33, appeared in court on Tuesday, where he was charged with assault and willfully resisting or obstructing a police officer.

Nyren played for Calgary in the American Midget Hockey League; and for Moose Jaw and Kamloops in the Western Hockey League from 2005 to 2010, according to the hockey-player database Elite Prospects.

He also played for the University of Calgary from 2012 to 2014 before returning to the ECHL with the Colorado Eagles and for teams in France and Italy.

Former Calgary Hitmen teammate Kris Foucault was shocked to hear about the charges.

"He was always outgoing. He was always funny in the locker room," he told CTV Vancouver. "The guy I knew, he was always a great teammate."

Mounties in Kelowna are asking for any witnesses to come forward.