After a frightening incident in his downtown Vernon business, a local optical store owner is shocked that the alleged assailant was quickly released on bail.
Peter Martens, the owner of Lensmakers Optical on 32nd Avenue, said two employees were in the shop on Thursday when an intruder came in and put a box cutter to an employee’s neck.
However, according to Martens, it is unclear if the box cutter blade was open or not and the intruder said something to the effect of “I gotcha now.”
Police described the mid-day incident as an attempted robbery.
Martens said he has no idea what motivated the attack, as the intruder never mentioned robbery or asked for anything.
Additionally, Martens said the man — who is now charged in connection with the incident — was not a customer of the store.
Martens said his employee was able to overpower the assailant and hold him against a wall.
Martens said by then, the police had been called and the intruder had settled down.
“At that point, he was able to get the guy to sit down in a chair and stay there,” Martens said.
In the meantime, Martens said the other employee was very shaken up and had a difficult time even phoning 911.
The store owner now planning to institute a new policy, where the doors will be locked whenever an employee is working alone.
“I don’t know what else we can do. This is ridiculous,” Martens said.
“In a retail business, you certainly don’t want to do that, but what else can you do?”
The shop owner said police quickly responded to the store after the alleged assault took place.
A 63-year-old Coldstream man is now charged with assault with a weapon in connection to the incident.
Michael Richard Edward Parkinson was released on bail the next day on eight conditions, including a requirement he not go within 50 metres of Lensmakers Optical.
He is also prohibited from possessing weapons.
The accused’s release has surprised and upset Martens.
“When he got released, we just shook our heads,” he said.
“Why was he let go? They put a restraining order on him, but that’s meaningless to me.”
Global News asked the provincial Ministry of Attorney General about Martens’ concerns.
It said it does not comment on matters that are before the courts.
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