Ostrich Farm protestor charged with assaulting senior

A protestor from the Universal Ostrich Farm alleged to have tried to set fire to one of the farm’s neighbours, has been charged.

Timothy John Regan, born 1965, had his first court appearance today, Dec. 11, at the Vernon Courthouse, having been charged with assault with a weapon, assault, and mischief under $5,000.

Details of precisely what took place aren’t known, but court records show the offence took place Sept. 22, against a neighbour of the farm, Lois Wood. Police at the time said they were investigating a report of an assault and arson attempt at a property neighbouring the Universal Ostrich Farm.

The victim, Lois Wood, told CTV in October that a masked man had doused the woman in gasoline and punched her in the face.

“I thought I was going to be lit on fire,” Wood told CTV a week after the alleged assault. 

Wood told CTV, that at 7 a.m. on the day in question, she opened her front door to feed her cat and saw a man wearing a balaclava dressed in black carrying a five-gallon, red jerry can.

She said he poured gas at the bottom of her steps and along the side of her house, and then reached into his pocket. She feared he was reaching for a cigarette lighter.

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The 72-year-old said she screamed, and he poured gas on her. She grabbed his arm and bit him, she told CTV, before kicking him in the groin.

“The suspect who was associated to the protest camp on the Universal Ostrich Farm was identified and arrested without incident,” the RCMP said at the time.

Following the assault, an RCMP car was parked near her home.

It’s not known what Reagan’s role was at the Universal Ostrich Farm, but a social media photo shows him with Katie Pasitney, whose mother owns the ostrich farm.

The Universal Ostrich Farm made international headlines earlier this year, when the Canadian Food Inspection Agency learnt several of the Ostriches had died of bird flu, but the owners hadn’t alerted the authorities.

The farm then launched a lengthy court battle after the Ostriches were ordered to be culled, but lost last month.

Over the months, the farm raised more than $100,000 in donations, although it still appears to have neglected to pay multiple people they owe tens of thousands of dollars to.

Regan, 60, is scheduled to be back in court in the new year.

None of the allegations has been proven in court.