By Charlene Tebbutt

Prince Albert seniors bruised following beating outside community hall

Mar 27, 2018 | 8:00 AM

A Prince Albert couple is nursing cuts and bruises following a violent altercation outside a community hall Sunday night.

Tim Dyck, 52, said he and his wife Carol, 72, were attacked outside Parkland Hall Sunday evening. The incident happened around 6 p.m. as the couple was on their way to a gospel show. Tim, a local gospel singer, was planning to perform at the show. Tim told paNOW they noticed someone following close behind them in a van, driving aggressively and honking the horn, as they drove to the hall. The van’s driver kept following them even after they continued driving up the hill along 9th Ave. W. and over to the East Hill then back to Parkland Hall.

Once back at Parkland Hall, Dyck said the driver behind them got out of his van and began hitting the couple in the parking lot.

“Everybody there was seniors,” Dyck told paNOW. “This guy had parked and started walking towards me and without a word or anything, he just started swinging.”

Wilf Savisky, a retired Prince Albert police officer, was shoveling snow in the parking lot when the incident happened. Savisky, 75, said he ran over with a snow shovel to help, but the attacker grabbed a shovel of his own.

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“This guy had Tim down and he was just pounding on him,” Savisky said. “He went after me so I held him off with the shovel. Then he got a shovel and he took a swipe at me and hit me in the arm.”

Savisky said he has some bruises from the metal shovel. He was able to talk to the man and eventually calm him down, he said, and the man then got back in his vehicle and drove away.

“My thoughts were that Tim was going to get beaten to within an inch of his life if he wasn’t killed. This guy was really wailing on him,” Savisky said. “And when he came back with a shovel, I thought he was going to knock my head off.”

The gospel show was canceled following the altercation, but Dyck said it will be rescheduled. 

“It was a random thing that happened and, unfortunately, we had to cancel,” Dyck added.

Dyck said he is hopeful the next show will be a positive event for the community.

“Really, what the whole event was for, was to bring people together under one banner and maybe get some healing going on in the community,” he added.

The Prince Albert Police Service has charged one man in connection with Sunday’s incident. The 41-year-old man made a first appearance Monday morning and is scheduled to be back in court Tuesday. He is facing three charges in connection with the incident including assault with a weapon and assault.

charlene.tebbutt@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @CharleneTebbutt