Woman assaulted in West Kelowna dog park

WEST KELOWNA – An Ontario man has a date with a judge today after allegedly assaulting a woman in a West Kelowna dog park yesterday.

RCMP say a 33-year-old Ontario man with no fixed address, allegedly assaulted a woman at Rotary Dog Park in West Kelowna at around 4 p.m. yesterday, Aug. 22. When police arrived, they found the intoxicated suspect had been restrained by bystanders in what RCMP call an "unprovoked assault."

Witnesses told police a verbal confrontation had quickly turned physical, with the suspect grabbing a woman without warning. After the assault, he then threw her belongings into the nearby Okanagan Lake.

“As bystanders began to gather in an effort to prevent the suspect from leaving, the victim called a family member who attended the scene and confronted the suspect to await the arrival of police,” RCMP media liaison officer Cpl. Jesse O’Donaghey says in a media release. “It is believed that the suspect proceeded to assault that family member, who then physically restrained the suspect, with the support of bystanders until police could arrive on scene.”

The first victim, a woman in her 30s, and the second victim, a man in his 50s, sustained non-life threatening injuries.

A 33-year-old man from Ontario, who faces several charges, was held in police custody overnight for a scheduled court appearance today, Aug. 23.

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