Image Credit: (CREDIT/kamloopscity.com)
July 23, 2013 - 7:07 AM
KAMLOOPS - It was one violent Saturday night on the town in Kamloops last year.
Kamloops RCMP Const. Evan Elgee remembers responding alone to a gruesome assault with a pool cue just as his shift was about to end around 1 a.m. on Nov. 4. He was in an unmarked police car downtown just outside Cactus Jacks Nightclub on Fifth Avenue when a bouncer from the club came to his car.
He was told of an attack in the bar and that a man's 'eye ball was hanging out.'
Elgee had no trouble pointing out Yousef Almotairai, a Saudi Arabian international student from TRU, who is charged with assault with a weapon and aggravated assault. Elgee's description of his encounter with the accused might not be what you expect.
"To me, he was friendly," he said.
Crown prosecutor Chris Balison described the ramifications for Abdulaziz Alhedaib, another Saudi Arabian student.
"The pool cue struck him in the eye and it went in through the eye to the brain," Balison said as he began to describe what he called as a 'penetrating traumatic brain injury.'
Alhedaib remained in hospital until April 3 of this year, suffering brain trauma, an orbital fracture and nerve damage.
"He was treated for that brain injury and required surgery," Balison said.
According to media reports, the incident wasn't all keeping busy that night. Police also responded to an attack with a bat at the same nightclub, the samenight, about one hour later.
The Crown is expected to present evidence from two 39-minute surveillance videos taken at Cactus Jacks that night from the 32 video cameras throughout the bar.
To contact a reporter for this story, email: jwallace@infotelnews.ca, call: (250) 319-7494 or tweet: @jess__wallace.
News from © iNFOnews, 2013