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Crown stays domestic assault charges against Kelowna Hells Angels prospect

Jason Townsend, 43, was charged in August 2020 with assault and assault by choking
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Jason Townsend wearing his Kelowna Hells Angels prospect patches. (Jason Townsend/Facebook)

Crown prosecutors have stayed domestic assault charges against a Kelowna Hells Angels prospect.

Jason Townsend, 43, was charged in August 2020 with assault and assault by choking. The BC Prosecution Service (BCPS) marked the file as an intimate partner violence case.

Townsend’s two-day trial was meant to begin Monday (May 3), but the Crown stayed the charges.

“The decision to stay the charges was made after Crown counsel with conduct of the file received information that lead him to conclude the charge assessment standard could no longer be met,” said BCPS communications counsel Dan McLaughlin, adding the Crown received the new information within the last few weeks.

When the charges were first announced, the Kelowna RCMP said Townsend fled the scene before police arrived at a Yates Road home early on the morning of Aug. 7, 2020. Officers were able to speak with the victim, who suffered non-life-threatening injuries, and determined she and Townsend knew each other. Later the same day, Townsend turned himself in to police.

Several photos on Townsend’s Facebook page show him wearing a leather vest with red and white patches that read “Prospect” and “Kelowna.” He has also shared several promotional photos for poker runs leaving from the Hells Angels’ clubhouse at 837 Ellis Street.

Earlier this week, a man described by police as a “known prospect” of the Kelowna Hells Angels, Colin Michael Bayley, pleaded guilty to an aggravated assault charge stemming from a May 2019 assault. Bayley’s sentencing date has yet to be set.

READ MORE: Kelowna Hells Angels prospect pleads guilty to aggravated assault

READ MORE: Kelowna Hells Angels prospect charged with assault, choking

Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email: michael.rodriguez@kelownacapnews.com


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