Vincent Florence is pictured in a recent photo supplied by his family.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED

The stepfather of the man who was viciously assaulted outside a Penticton restaurant and sent to hospital with brain injuries is livid that the suspect arrested in connection with the assault Monday evening was again walking free by Tuesday morning.

Steve Zeiler said a simple assault charge would be upsetting considering the physical harm caused to his stepson, who had to be transferred from Penticton Regional Hospital to Kelowna General Hospital as doctors were worried about his condition.

The BC Prosecution Service said Crown counsel has not yet received this file from Penticton RCMP for charge assessment and no charges have officially yet been filed.

Steve Zeiler is also very upset at a press release issued by the Penticton RCMP Tuesday morning as it claimed the injuries his son suffered were "non-life-threatening."

Zeiler noted his stepson, Vincent Florence, 28, suffered bleeding on the brain and had to be transferred for emergency surgery from Penticton Regional Hospital to Kelowna General Hospital because doctors were so worried about his condition following the assault.

The suspect who has been arrested is almost twice the size of his stepson and it enrages him that he's been released on conditions within hours following his arrest, said Zeiler.

"I'm disappointed that this guy is out of jail obviously," he said. "I'm also disappointed that the press release that stated 'non life-threatening injuries'. I don't know how much emergency brain surgery could be non life-threatening."

Zeiler said he’s been given the name of the individual arrested by Penticton RCMP. As there have been no charges, the Herald has removed the suspect’s name from this story.

“You spend more time sitting in the drunk tank in Penticton or any court system in this country than you do for a serious incident like this where my stepson could have been killed,” he said.

“Vincent is terrified of this guy and you can’t blame him,” he said. “We’ve got a whole town that basically knows this guy’s name. Everybody knows who it is and now that he’s been released, they can’t believe he’s being released back into society until May.

“It doesn’t seem like anybody is taking this (crime) seriously anymore. I don’t know what it is. It’s a revolving door in our court system. It’s disgusting.”

Zeiler said he phoned the RCMP Monday evening after other people contacted him to inform him an arrest had been made.

“The police actually phoned other people that we know before they phoned the family,” he said. “They never even phoned us directly that they had arrested anybody. I’m the one who had to phone them because somebody phoned me and told me that they had made an arrest. They didn’t bother phoning us. They didn’t phone us at all.

“I phoned there last night (Monday) and I didn’t get a phone call back. That’s unacceptable.”

Zeiler said it was members of the Clean Streets Penticton Facebook group that played a significant role in gathering information leading to the arrest.

Clean Streets Penticton is a group of locals who have signed up to a Facebook group and formed committees where citizens keep an eye on neighbourhoods to try and improve public safety in and around Penticton.

On their Facebook page, it states: “The goal of this community group is to reduce the impacts of crime, violence and antisocial activity by providing support, information and assistance to any community members that request it. It is a secure forum to share information and decrease vulnerability through facilitation of connection to a supportive neighborhood organization.”

Zeiler said he’s thankful to anyone who may have played a role leading to an arrest in his stepson’s case.

“It was the Clean Streets Penticton people who found him,” he said. “They were the ones who found him and phoned the police to notify him where he was. They caught him right near where the assault happened.”

His stepson was released from hospital on Sunday and is feeling better, but has a long road ahead of him to make a full recovery, he said.

“He’s still got really bad headaches,” he said. “He’s getting migraines. He can’t really do a lot. We take him outside the house for 10 minutes or so, so he can get some fresh air.

“We have family staying with him all the time right now. The hospital said to not leave him alone and keep a close eye on him for a little bit (longer). We can’t risk having him pass out with no one there.”

According to his stepfather, Vincent was cold-cocked by an unknown man when he was leaving the restaurant, after making a purchase. After being punched, he hit his head on the ground and suffered two brain bleeds.

The assailant was accompanied by a woman, who Vincent instantly recognized. She allegedly stole his wallet and keys after the assault, he said.

He holds down two part-time jobs — Martin Street Liquor Merchants and the Barking Parrot at the Penticton Lakeside Resort.

Vincent’s sister Victoria Florence set up an online fundraiser to help cover his loss of wages. The page was at $10,175 as of Thursday morning.

Management and owners of the Barley Mill, where the assault occurred, spent hours with police providing them with video. Customer safety remains their top priority, a spokesman for the pub said.”

— This article was originally published by the Penticton Herald.

— This article has been corrected by the Penticton Herald. The original article stated the victim's stepfather had been given the name of the individual responsible and that he'd been charged with assault, which is not accurate as no charges have officially been filed.

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