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UPDATE: Revelstoke man spends three days in hospital after random violent assault

A Revelstoke man underwent surgery at a Kelowna hospital following an unprovoked violent assault in a residential Revelstoke neighbourhood Sunday night.

By Alex Cooper and Aaron Orlando

Times Review

A man who spent three days in a Kelowna hospital this week told the Times Review he was the victim of a unprovoked attacked Sunday night.

Initial reports described the incident as a melee but the victim, who asked not to be identified, said it completely one-sided and he had no time to defend himself.

"These guys just basically wanted to beat the shit out of someone," said the 30-year-old Revelstoke man. "I grew up in a city and I've seen pub fights but there was no stopping these guys.

"It wasn't a fight, it was an attack. It was completely one-sided, no remorse, no mercy or anything."

A resident first tipped the Times Review to this story. The man is a friend of the assault victims and was outraged by the random, senseless attack.

We agreed not to disclose his identity because he was concerned that one of the assailants has yet to be identified, and he feared possible retribution.

His description of the incident matched a police report. On Friday, the victim visited the Times Review office to give his account of the incident and clarify some details in the initial report.

The victim required surgery to repair the damage. He had a titanium plate put in his jaw and his mouth was wired on one side.

He said the incident happened in the Farwell neighbourhood, at the corner of Douglas Street and King Street on Sunday, April 24 at about 11:30 p.m.

He and a friend were skateboarding down the street on the way back from a barbecue when they were set upon by two other males. He said he had never encountered the two men before.

He said it happened very quickly. He was skateboarding down the street when someone asked him, 'What are you looking at?' Suddenly, the assailant approached him and punched him in the face twice, knocking him to the ground. He then kicked the victim in the jaw, breaking it in three places.

After the attack, the victims called the police but kept their eyes on the assailants. The victim said that when the attackers saw they were on the phone with the police, one of the attackers ran at them. Fortunately, they were scared off by an approaching police cruiser.

When police arrived, they managed to catch one of the attackers, but the other fled and remains at large. Police do not have a working description.

RCMP arrested a 29-year-old Revelstoke man and charged him with assault causing bodily harm. He is scheduled to appear in Revelstoke Provincial Court on July 6 and has been released from custody, with the conditions not to be in contact with the victim and his friend and with a 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew in place.

RCMP are not releasing the identity of the man until formal court documents are filed.

"Police do not know the motive for the attack, which appeared to be unprovoked, but the suspect was under the influence of alcohol at the time," the RCMP said in a statement.

The RCMP "are following up a couple of different leads" on the at-large suspect, Wiebe told the Times Review. He said they'd work to get a description out if needed.

The victims' friend said the community needed to be aware of this "horrific" and "random" attack. He encouraged anyone with information about the assault to contact the RCMP.

The victim, who has lived in Revelstoke for four years, was equally shocked by the random assault.

Editor's note: This story was updated Friday afternoon after the victim provided additional details to the Times Review.