UPDATE: Alleged Mayfair Motel attacker identified | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Penticton News

UPDATE: Alleged Mayfair Motel attacker identified

Penticton RCMP arrested a man in connection to attacks made against several people in and outside unit 18 at the Mayfair Motel early Tuesday morning.

PENTICTON - Penticton man Ralph Scott James Lefteruk, 40, was arrested and charged with attempted murder in connection to violent attacks against one or more people at the Mayfair Motel on Skaha Lake Road.

Penticton RCMP responded to a 4:18 a.m. call yesterday about a woman being attacked at the motel, according to Sgt. Rick Dellebuur. While responding, police were told the man stabbed another man at the same location.

When they arrived, officers spotted a man known to police in the motel's parking lot. He had blood on him and was taken into custody. An investigation revealed the suspect allegedly broke into unit 18 and choked the 53-year-old woman inside. Her 43-year-old female roommate came to her aid and the pair managed to escape the room. One of the neighbours who came to help, a 40-year-old man, was also stabbed several times. Both he and the suspect were taken to Penticton Regional Hospital.

On Wednesday Dellebuur said the stabbing victim is in stable condition and Lefteruk was still in custody. He faces two charges of attempted murder, a single charge of assault, two break and enter charges, possessing a weapon contrary to court orders and one charge of resisting a police officer. He has had a minor criminal history in B.C.

Lefteruk will be given a psychiatric assessment and is due to appear in court via video on Feb. 26.

On Tuesday afternoon, the two women and one neighbour spoke briefly about the attack.

One of the women, who asked for anonymity, said she remembered being woken by a loud noise—the front door being slammed into the wall.

"I woke up to see what happened and there's some dude sitting in my living room. I started freaking out and asking him who he was. He kept staring straight."

When her roommate woke up, she said the man must have heard her. He got up, ran across the unit and started choking her, she said.

"I could hear him choking her out and I ran in there. I said, 'What are you doing?!' and he came at me (and) he hit me in the face. And he started punching me and kicking me. I don't remember how I got away."

Michel Poulin was next door to unit 18. He too was woken up by loud noises.

"There was kind of screaming, a woman's screaming and then a big bang," Poulin explained.

"I got up, put my pants on and it was quiet. Then I heard another bang. That's when I came out and he came out the (other) door," Poulin said. "The girls had run away by then."

Poulin remembered the man's face quite well. "What I see, he's only got one eye and he has evil in this eye," he said.

Poulin was joined by a man named Gord and a few other neighbours. A fight broke out and at some point Gord was stabbed.

The two women pointed out drops of frozen blood on the pavement. A small table nearby was stained with dark puddles of frozen blood. They said they didn't know whose blood it belonged to - Gord or his attacker.

Police said the injuries were serious but non-life-threatening and he remains in care. As for the male suspect, he was treated for minor injuries and returned to the Penticton RCMP detachment where he remains in custody. All parties involved are Penticton residents. Investigation into the incident continues.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Shannon Quesnel at squesnel@infotelnews.ca, call 250-488-3065 or tweet @InfoNewsPentict.

This story was updated at 12:50 p.m., Feb. 5, 2014 to include the identity of the accused attacker, the charges made against him and the next court date.

News from © iNFOnews, 2014
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