One man is in custody following an alleged random attack in downtown Kelowna, B.C., on Wednesday morning.
Tom Groat of West Kelowna says he was inside his parked vehicle when a stranger carrying a pair of two-by-fours suddenly started smashing it.
“I caught this guy out of the corner of my eye walking down the street with a 4X4, about four feet long,” Groat told Global News.
“All of a sudden, he just turned and smashed my front window.”
The 66-year-old continued, saying, “If you want to look at the big picture, yeah, our society has issues. We have issues with mental health, we have issues with drug abuse.”
Another man witnessed the incident.
“I was talking with someone on the phone and then I saw him just swinging at the vehicle with a 4X4, and I’m like what the hell is going on?” Jose Ignacio-Macin.
Groat says he followed his alleged attacker for several blocks, all while talking to 911 dispatchers.
Groat said the dispatcher told him two or three times to stop following the man, but he declined, saying, “I’m a safe distance, I’m not in any harm, I can outrun the guy. I’m just going to keep an eye on him until you guys get there.”
The suspect was eventually arrested about three-and-a-half blocks away.
Global News has reached out to police for more information.
It’s unclear if the attack was drug-induced, or if the suspect suffers from mental illness.
Either way, Groat says the randomness of this attack should be enough to scare anyone.
“We’re struggling to make sure we have the funds and the programs in place to handle people like this.”
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