Jim DeMarce is pictured at the Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 40 in Penticton, Sunday, July 28, 2024.

Image Credit: Keith Lacey, Local Journalism Initiative

Four “cowards” who attacked an 82-year-old man who happens to be the long-time president of the Royal Canadian Legion and a proud military veteran, remain free and have not been charged following a disgusting act of violent on Main Street just outside the main branch of the Penticton Public Library Friday night.

Jim DeMarce, 82, was driving his scooter home from the library late Friday afternoon, when four strange men approached him.

“They weren’t kids, I would say all four of them were in their 40s and they were all obviously street people,” he said. “I asked to get by them and they said they would move their carts, so I can get by, if I gave them all my money and my cigarettes. I said ‘no… that ain’t happening.’

“Then they knocked me off my scooter and they gang tackled me.”

As of late Sunday afternoon, DeMarce was sporting a large, quarter-sized purple bruise just over his right eye.

“One guy hit me with something. It knocked me off the scooter and then they proceeded to put the boots to me.”

The incident only lasted one or two minutes, but it “seems like an eternity” when four grown men are throwing punches and kicks at you, he said.

Fortunately, the incident didn’t cause any more physical injuries, said DeMarce.

DeMarce said he didn’t recognize any of the four men who attacked him.

“You see so many street people, nowadays” he said. “To me, so many of them look exactly the same. They were all scruffy, not well dressed, all four of these guys had unkempt beards and long hair.”

“Once I got up and got back on my scooter, I just decided to go home. He lives near the local RCMP detachment.

DeMarce said he has “all the faith in the world in” in Penticton RCMP as they have very difficult jobs, often dealing with prolific offenders who are continually arrested, released and then break their bail conditionals and commit more crimes.“The police do their job. I don’t dispute that,” he said. “I fully believe they do their job.”

He has worked with many police officers in Penticton as a long-time community volunteer over the past several decades and always had a cordial, friendly relationship, he said.

The Canadian justice system, on the other hand, is broken and needs to be fixed, he said.

“What really pisses me off if these people get arrested, they get fingerprinted, they get mugshots. They end up in the courtroom and the judge gives them a slap on the wrist and says you’re free to go. It happens all the time. The judiciary, not only here in Penticton, but all across Canada, sucks.”

If a long-time judge was assaulted like he at his tender years, “I have no doubt whatsoever, he would be going to jail for a very long time. It’s a hell of a thing to say but that’s honestly how I feel.”

DeMarce said he has lived almost 82 years peacefully and had never been assaulted. Having four men half his age attack him is truly upsetting, he said.

During his six years in the Canadian military as a paratrooper in his early 40s out of Edmonton, DeMarce said things would definitely turned out different than they did Friday night.

“I’m 82 years old,” he said. “I’m not as fast, or strong or agile as I used to be,” he said.

While he still hasn’t officially filed a police report, DeMarce said a large group of friends, including dozens of members from the Legion, are encouraging him to so early this week.

"I gotta go and file a report,” he said. “A lot of my good friends insist I go to the police, so I’m going to. I gotta go.”

The RCMP are seeking out members of the public who may have witnessed the event or who may have dash camera footage of the Main street area from the night of the incident between 11:30 p.m. and 1 a.m.

Penticton RCMP encourage anyone who may know the men to call 250-492-4300 and also remind residents to report any incident immediately to ensure higher chances of identifying those at fault and preserve  evidence.

— This article was originally published by Penticton Herald.

News from © iNFOnews, 2024