A Canadian Armed Forces member suffered “life-altering” injuries after being attacked while supervising air cadets selling poppies in Hamilton, Ont., on the weekend, local police say.
A 59-year-old commanding officer for the Royal Canadian Air Cadets was overseeing the sale of Remembrance Day poppies outside a restaurant on Nov. 1 when two boys approached the cadets and “blew a loud air horn directly into their ears,” the Hamilton police said in a press release.
The boys ran into the restaurant and the man followed them “to confront them about their actions,” police said. A struggle ensued after a woman, who was not originally part of the dispute, intervened.
“The woman was completely unassociated to the situation, however she inserted herself in an attempt to assist the youths,” Hamilton police Const. Trevor McKenna told The Epoch Times in an email.
The woman is accused of assaulting the victim, causing him to fall to the ground. Police also allege one of the youths struck the victim multiple times while the man was on the floor.
Both of the boys and the woman were gone before officers arrived on scene, police said.
The officers found the victim inside the restaurant with what police have described as “ life-altering” injuries. He was transported to a local hospital for treatment.
Police did not comment on the extent of the man’s injuries.
Officers located two boys at a nearby store after receiving reports of a new, unrelated disturbance, and a 12-year-old was arrested and charged with assault and aggravated assault.
An 11-year-old was not charged. McKenna said police determined that “they did not cause harm to the victim.”
A 48-year-old female suspect was arrested on Nov. 2 and has been charged with aggravated assault, police said.
McKenna said police can lay charges against young people in accordance with the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA), however most situations require that police “consider alternative avenues” such as diversion programs, rather than going straight to charges.
“It just depends on the circumstances,” he said.
The youth charged in the assault of the 59-year-old man cannot be named under provisions of the YCJA.
