TORONTO — Police say a 66-year-old Good Samaritan was pepper sprayed and robbed in Ajax after he stopped to help what he thought was a man in medical distress.
Durham Region police said the man was walking on the sidewalk in his neighbourhood, in the Williamson Drive and Stokes Drive area, when he was approached by a silver four-door sedan at about 10:45 a.m. Wednesday.
A woman and two men were in the car, one of whom appeared to be in need of medical attention, when they stopped the alleged victim to ask for directions to the nearest hospital.
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“The passenger window is open, he sees the male that’s in the passenger seat and it looks like he’s passed out and might be in some kind of medical distress,” Sgt. Bill Calder told Global News, adding that the man wanted to “do the right thing” and didn’t have any suspicions at the time.
“As he leans in to talk to them, he’s grabbed through the open window, somebody pulls on his arm, he’s actually hit in the face with what we believe to be pepper spray, and then they pull his arm far enough into the car that they remove a watch from his wrist, they remove a ring from his hand and they also remove a gold chain around his neck as well.”
Calder said the man was very “shaken up” by the incident and took time before contacting police because he was so upset to the point where he is nervous about walking around his own neighbourhood.
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“It’s a very family oriented neighbourhood because we just go to school across the street,” said neighbour Mary Theodore. “We’ve always felt safe here so it’s shocking.”
The driver is described as male, of Middle-Eastern descent, aged 40 to 45 years, with a heavy build and short black hair, while the male passenger is described as male, of Middle-Eastern descent, aged 30 to 35 years old, with short black hair.
Additionally, the female passenger is described as of Middle-Eastern descent and approximately 50 years old.
“Because our suspects in this case are looking like they’re anywhere from 30 to 50 years old I don’t think he had a strong suspicion that anything was up in the first place,” Calder said.
“It’s hard to ever encourage someone not to be a Good Samaritan in the first place, so he did the right thing.”
Calder said there had been no similar reports in the area and investigators are reaching out to anyone who may have witnessed anything suspicious or possess surveillance video.
Anyone with new information is asked to contact Det. Derusha of the West Division Criminal Investigations Bureau at 1-888-579-1520 ext. 2535.
Anonymous information can be sent to Durham Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or online at http://www.durhamregionalcrimestoppers.ca.
With files from Mark McAllister
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