Penticton man accused of vicious assault in court, victim recovering

PENTICTON – The Penticton man who was brutally beaten while relaxing on an area beach is slowly making a recovery, while the man accused of the random attack made a routine court appearance. 

Brad Eliason’s wife, Chelcie Townend, said Eliason is now sitting up and can stand with balance. He has trouble forming words but understands what is being said to him, Townend said, adding he still has another surgery to go and more rehabilitation ahead of him.

“God has answered our prayers, especially mine. Brad is slowly coming back,” she wrote on her Facebook post. The attack on Eliason resulted in him being placed in a medically induced coma for several weeks.

The man accused of beating Eliason was in court Monday, June 3, for a bail hearing.

Thomas Braydon Kruger-Allen, 21, appeared via video and is facing counts of aggravated assault, assault, sexual assault and breach following his arrest for the May 3 incident. He is accused of sexually assaulting a woman, then assaulting Eliason when Eliason tried to intervene.

Eliason was enjoying an evening with some friends at the beach when he suffered a severe head injury after allegedly being assaulted while coming to the aid of some teenagers being harassed by two adult men.

Defence lawyer James Pennington asked for an adjournment of the hearing in order for the Crown to provide more information, including statements to police made by his client and a second witness.

“I’d like to see those before we proceed,” Pennington told the court. Judge Ellen Burdett elected to adjourn for several hours while Crown sought to obtain the police information.

But Crown counsel Andrew Vandersluys told the court this afternoon those statements would not be forthcoming until Wednesday or Thursday, resulting in an adjournment to the Judicial Case Manager’s office for a new bail hearing date.

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