FILE PHOTO - Vincent Florence serves hot dogs at the Barking Parrot at a special fundraiser in his honour.

Image Credit: Penticton Herald file photo

The suspect arrested in connection with a vicious assault that sent a Penticton man to hospital for emergency brain surgery just before Christmas last year is now facing a criminal charge.

Following a thorough investigation, the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of aggravated assault against 49-year-old Shaun Richard Clauson.

The Penticton RCMP issued a press release on the charge early Wednesday morning.

The charge stems from an incident that occurred on December 22, 2024, where officers were called to a restaurant in the 2400 block of Skaha Lake Rd., for a report of an assault.

A 28-year-old man was located with serious injuries.

Clauson was arrested and later released on conditions. He’s scheduled to appear in Penticton Provincial Court on June 4, 2025.

The RCMP said no further details will be released at this time.

When Vincent Florence looks back at his life, he’ll never forget the last two weeks of 2024 and first two weeks of 2025.

Back in January, the Herald reported the humble and mild-mannered Penticton man was making a remarkable recovery from a senseless and violent attack the evening of Dec. 22 in the parking lot of a south end restaurant.

He was taken to hospital in Penticton following the attack and doctors at Penticton Regional Hospital were so concerned about his condition, they rushed him to experts at Kelowna General Hospital as it was discovered he was suffering from bleeding in his brain.

A man was arrested by Penticton RCMP relating to the attack, but no formal criminal charges were filed until now.

After a couple of very harrowing days for Vincent, his mother Roxanne, his stepfather Steve Zeiler and his siblings and large circle of friends, he was released from hospital and allowed to go home.

Over two weeks, Vincent commenced what all signs indicate was going to be a full and complete recovery.

Not only is he back home with his parents, but all of his motor and neurological abilities had returned and a full recovery appeared imminent.

In January, the Barking Parrot, where Florence had worked for more than five years, held a celebratory fundraising event for Vincent and his family.

A crowd of more than 100 patrons were in attendance when the event kicked off at 5 p.m.

Vincent was not only the special guest, but he helped cook up hot dogs for those attending.

This comes after the community rallied behind Vincent, who was projected to miss several months of work as he continued to recover. The community helped raise more than $10,000 in a GoFund Me campaign.

The goal was to raise enough money to allow Florence to pay his rent and bills until he returns to work. The campaign was taken down after the $10,000 goal was reached.

Vincent is a humble, mild-mannered and genuinely a nice young man and he was very emotional at the community’s response since the attack.

“I’m so thankful for all the love and support I’ve received,” he said, breaking down near tears. “It has been amazing.”

He was feeling better with each passing day and is confident that will continue, he said.

“I’m doing really well,” he said. “I’m just super focused on my side effects that have come with my brain injury. I’m going to continue working on the recommendations that the doctors gave me to make a full recovery from my injuries.”

His stepfather said while he remains incredulous and upset Vincent was attacked by a stranger for no reason, his faith in humanity has largely been restored by the outpouring of emotional and financial support for his stepson.

“It has been unbelievable,” he said. “We never ever thought there would be this kind of support. We knew a lot of people liked Vincent and would support him. My son is having a hard time speaking about this because he never imagined a whole community would be behind him and would show so much love and support.

“He had his circle of friends, but all this community support he’s had and the extent to which people have rallied behind him has kind of been overwhelming. People can bad talk Penticton about how bad crime has become, like it has in so many communities, but to see the support instead of the negativity has been unbelievable and it touches my heart, my wife’s heart and Vincent’s heart.”

“All the people who have supported him with donations been amazing,” he said. “I want to thank everybody who contributed. I also want to thank the Barking Parrot for hosting this fundraiser that the staff here organized. I just want to thank everybody because it really means a lot.”

Zeiler said he and his wife and family moved to Penticton 16 years ago from the Lower Mainland and he’s never been prouder to call this city home due to the overwhelming response to Vincent’s situation.

“I’ve never felt more welcome now than after 16 years of living and loving this community,” he said. “It has been amazing.”

Vincent’s mother shared the same sentiments.

“Like my husband said, Vincent really didn’t know how much he was loved since after this incident took place,” she said. “He doesn’t show a lot of emotion, but, because of the situation going on with him, he’s actually pulled himself aside and shed some tears.”

When he returned to the Barking Parrot after being released from hospital, the amount of people who gathered around him to give him a hug and wish him well was incredible, she said.

“The people he works with were telling him how much they love him and miss him and the customers were saying the exact same thing,” she said. “He looked at me and said ‘I honestly never realized I affected that many people.”

Her son has always been a friendly and kind person and this incident will not change his disposition, she said.

“He would literally take the shirt off his back if someone was walking down the street without one and give it to them,” she said. “He’s just that kind of person. He’s a really good young man.”

Her daughter Victoria had to talk her and her husband into starting the GoFund Me campaign, but she’s glad she did, said Roxanne.

“We were originally reluctant, but we said he’s going to need the help,” she said. “He had just moved into his new place by himself when this happened. The response was overwhelming and we raised enough money to ensure he’ll be OK financially for several months, so we cut if off as we’re pretty confident he’ll be back to work in a few months.”

Zeiler said the best news of all is doctors are confident Vincent was going to make a full recovery, which is not what they thought when he was rushed to hospital three weeks ago.

“He’s going to recover,” he said. “He’s getting better. All of the support has made it so much easier for him to recover. He’s going to be a stronger person for this. I just want everyone to know this young man is a fighter and with all this love and support, he’s going to be even better than he was before.”

To the man responsible hurting Vincent so badly, Zeiler said he hopes he never does anything like this ever again.

“In the past seven days, in retrospect, with losing a lot of the anger knowing Vincent is going to recover, I hope that this guy gets some help,” he said. “I hope he can realize that what he did was wrong and I hope he gets help to be a better person.”

Vincent not only worked at the Barking Parrot, but held a second job at a liquor store and not being able to go to work has been tough on him, but he knows he has to take a slow, but steady approach to recovering, said his mother.

“He hinted he’s feeling so good he might try and get back to work in two weeks, and we told him absolutely not,” said his mother. “He loves to work and he’ll be back as soon as the doctors tell him it’s OK.”

Vincent’s good friend Paige Powers, who worked with him at the liquor store, said she’s thrilled his recovery has been so positive after spending several days worrying he might not recover at all.

“We didn’t know he was going to recover like this and it’s nice to see him back to being more or less himself,” she said.

“He’s smiling and happy. We all miss him at work and we want him back as soon as possible.”

Luke Shawyer, a manager at The Barking Parrot, said Vincent has long been a popular employee because he works hard and is a nice guy.

This incident really upset a lot of his co-workers and they’re thrilled he’s on the road to recovery.

“Vinnie is a really hard worker who has been with us for many years and when you see something like this happen to a co-worker, it really hit home with our team here,” he said.

When news spread the Vincent was the victim of this crime and he was undergoing serious surgery, there were a few dark days, but the staff are universally very happy he’s on the road to recover, said Shawyer.

“When we heard what happened, it was very gut wrenching,” he said. “Your mind starts to race on you. We kept in touch with the family members and when they told us he’s going to be OK and in recovery, that’s all you could wish for.”

— This article was originally published by the Penticton Herald

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