Editor’s Note: The article has been amended to ensure the suspect is compliant with police instructions
A man has turned himself in following an assault in Vancouver on Thursday, police say.
The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) said a man was assaulted in the area of Main Street and East 25th Avenue.
Ray Hsu, a Vancouver poet and social justice professor at UBC, said he was getting off the bus when someone shoved him from behind and started punching him.
Images of the attack were turned over to police.
Following an appeal from VPD, the suspect turned himself in Friday night.
In an email to Global News, a man claiming to be the suspect expressed regret for the assault.
“I am in my 50s, have no criminal history, not even an arrest, have worked full-time with the general public for the same employer for many years and my horrible behaviour — as caught in the video — is highly uncharacteristic,” he wrote.
“I believe the mitigating factor is a new prescription medication I have been taking for the last eight weeks to address a physical ailment but which comes with a list of common side effects that may easily be interpreted as mimicking symptoms of mental illness.”
“I am reaching my doctor today to inform him of what has happened and will be asking for time off work until the problem is addressed.”
Hsu suffered minor injuries.
The suspect said he was interviewed by police and “permitted to leave immediately afterward with a promise to appear.”
– With files from Jill Slattery
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