A court date is in store for a man arrested after a senior was assaulted with bear spray in a Sicamous mall parking lot.
Benjamin Blundell, 36, of no fixed address, was arrested following the incident on Wednesday, July 24, and was charged with assault with a weapon. He was being held in custody with a September court appearance.
At 1 p.m. on the Sunday, police responded to a report of a disturbance on Eagle Pass Way near the Parkview Mall. Responding officers found a 76-year-old man had been bear sprayed by an unknown man who'd fled on foot towards Paradise Avenue and onto the trail system.
Police determined the senior had parked his vehicle at the mall on Parkview Street when he saw someone leaning in the open window of his parked vehicle, explained Sicamous RCMP Sgt. Murray McNeil in a media release. The senior asked the man to leave his truck, "at which point he was bear sprayed."
"The man was described as having a very distinctive tattoo which covered the left side of his face," said Murray McNeil, adding officers were familiar with the suspect.
Having heard the report to police, Salmon Arm RCMP officers arrived to assist in searching for the suspect. They located him walking along Highway 1 west of Sicamous.
"This is a senseless act of violence committed against a vulnerable senior who was simply going about their business," said McNeil. "The extremely cowardly act of attacking a senior citizen was disturbing to even the experienced police officers who attended the call."
