Police, victim seek help to identify suspect in roadside assault

ERIN – A local senior was left shaken up and concussed after he was attacked while trying to help someone at the side of the road earlier this month.

"It could haver been worse," the man said on June 26, trying to put a positive spin on the horrible experience.

The 73-year-old Erin resident still gets dizzy from time to time, but most of the headaches, fatigue, light sensitivity and other concussion symptoms have subsided in the 24 days since the incident.

The man, who is not being named because he fears his attacker could locate him, was on his way to get a vulnerable sector check on the evening of June 2 so he could become a volunteer driver for the Canadian Cancer Society.

At about 6:15pm he saw a car on the side of Wellington Road 50 near 5th Line, east of Ospringe, and stopped to offer assistance.

"The man said, 'I could use your help,'" so the Erin senior pulled over.

When he exited his vehicle and got closer, he noticed the man "smelled very strongly of alcohol and marijuana."

He admonished the man for possibly driving while impaired and was told, with the inclusion of profanity, to mind his own business. So the senior turned around and went back to his vehicle.

Without warning, the other man grabbed his shoulder, spun him around and punched him twice in the face. The senior fell onto the hood of his own car, unconscious.

"I must have been out of it for a while," he told the Advertiser.

He did not see or hear his assailant leave, but when he regained consciousness, he was alone with his vehicle on the side of the road and his cell phone, severely smashed, was on the ground beside him.

A passerby called the OPP and another waited with him until police and an ambulance arrived.

A press release from the Wellington County OPP, issued in response to an Advertiser inquiry about the incident, stated, "The victim was transported to a local hospital with minor injuries."

Both the OPP and victim describe the assailant as a black man in his 30s, about six feet tall with a stocky build, a patchy stubble beard and curly hair with shaved sides (dreadlock style).

The victim said the suspect was wearing orange Nike running shoes, dark sweatpants and a dark T-shirt with a Bob Marley print. 

Police added the suspect was also wearing a thick gold chain, work-style gloves and earrings (a loop in his left ear and a small diamond in his right).

The OPP described the suspect vehicle as an "older model dark grey Honda Accord or Civic" from the 1980s to 1990s, with an "oversized exhaust" and "minor damage to the driver-side bumper."

The victim confirmed the oversized tailpipe, but insists the car was a faded green 1994 or 1995 Honda Accord.

He also noted the car had a three-inch white decal on the rear driver-side window depicting a man lying down with a sniper rifle over "Arabic-type" writing. 

Anyone with information can call police at 1-888-310-1122. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at csgw.tips or toll free at 1-800-222-8477. Tip providers may be eligible for a cash reward of up to $2,000.