B.C. senior allegedly assaulted after intervening in break and enter, police say

A 74-year-old Kelowna resident was allegedly assaulted after he intervened in a break-and-enter at his adult living condo building, in downtown Kelowna.

Part of the incident was caught on camera as the man had broken into their garage and was confronted by the senior at one of the exits.

The Kelowna resident’s identity is being hidden for his safety.

“He grabbed his stuff and headed towards Doyle Avenue, so I followed him at quite a distance and I had 911 on the phone. But he turned around and yelled, ‘Hey old man, are you following me?’ and all of a sudden, he’s running towards me,” said the 74-year-old senior.

“He hit me on the shoulder, knocked me down, and kicked me in the side.”

The alleged assailant then grabbed the seniors’ phone, which still had a 911 operator on the line, and smashed it against a wall.

RCMP did arrive at the scene within a matter of minutes but the man had already disappeared, according to the senior.

In a statement, Kelowna RCMP told Global News, “A 74-year-old man attempted to intervene and was allegedly assaulted by the suspect. Officers conducted an investigation and a 36-year-old Kelowna man was arrested a short time later.”

“The suspect was released for a future court date.”

Jan Steffan, the building’s manager, said the very same day the man was released, he broke into another apartment building in the area.

“The day he was released we caught him on camera in our other building breaking into that building, doing the same thing, he broke into the mailroom and stole Amazon packages,” said Steffan.

Steffan says crimes like repeated break-and-enters will continue to happen unless B.C.’s Law courts start punishing these repeat offenders more severely.

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