EDMONTON- A Stony Plain man has been charged after a series of assaults in Spruce Grove Wednesday.
RCMP were called around 4:30 p.m., after receiving a complaint of a violent man who was allegedly harassing staff members at a Spruce Grove tanning salon.
“I came around the corner and there was a gentleman at the counter flaunting money and trying to give money to the girls. He was reaching across the counter, trying to grab them,” said Cori Claypool, who rents the space below TanSeekers, located at 124 McLeod Avenue.
“Then he wanted to tan. He gets in the tanning bed and he comes out stark naked; he wants us to come in the room and turn the bed on for him,” she explained. “He wanted to have a massage with little extras and he just, a lot of sexual conduct, a lot of gestures.”
Claypool says the man eventually got dressed and left the salon.
“It was a very scary incident, yes. It went on for about half an hour, so it was the longest half hour of the day.”
From there, RCMP say the suspect assaulted an elderly man on the street.
“He punched him in the head and actually broke his hearing aid,” said Corporal Colette Zazulak with Spruce Grove/Stony Plain RCMP.
Zazulak says the man then went into a nearby daycare, where 56 young children were present.
“When a parent who was arriving to pick up his son tried to escort him out he assaulted this parent, as well as an employee of the daycare,” she explained. “Out on the street he accosted one more person and assaulted them.”
Children at the daycare were rushed inside and the facility was placed under lockdown.
Police arrived soon after and arrested the suspect. Zazulak says the entire event was completely random and very disturbing.
“This is really strange behaviour and for it to happen midday, in a business district of a city, is very bizarre.”
Jason Simeon Genge, 33, has since been charged with several offences, including:
- four counts of assault
- two counts of causing a disturbance
- one count of indecent act
- two counts of mischief
- one count of attempting to bribe a police officer
“Apparently he continued to offer a substantial amount of money to the arresting officer and was consistently told ‘no, you are under arrest,'” Zazulak said. “I spoke with the investigators and they believe he was under the influence of substances and that definitely contributed to his behaviour.”
Genge remains in custody and is scheduled to appear in Stony Plain Provincial Court on October 9.
With files from Ross Neitz, Global News.
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