A 70-year-old man who was randomly assaulted in Vancouver last week is speaking out about the attack and says Canada needs to reform its criminal justice system.
“It was so fast, he must have rushed at me,” said the victim, who Global News is only identifying as John out of safety concerns.
The incident happened around 3 p.m. last Friday, as John was walking near Homer and West Pender streets. He had his phone and credit card out to pay for parking, and said he was only vaguely aware of a man walking in his direction.
“I think I glanced at my phone for a second, and the next thing I knew I saw this man’s face up here, but I was falling back, and he had, I think, what they call ‘body slammed’ me,” he explained.
“And as you are going down, you are thinking what is going on? And then I heard my head crack on the sidewalk. And you still don’t understand what is happening.”
From the ground, John said he could see the man walking away as if nothing had happened. The assailant did not try and take his phone or credit card, he added.
Get daily National news
Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
The incident left him with a head injury that required stitches and a shard of glass embedded in his scalp.
Vancouver police say Derrick James McFeeters, 40, was arrested on Granville Street later the same day. He has since been charged with one count of assault causing bodily harm.
McFeeters has a lengthy criminal file, and was out on bail when he allegedly attacked John.
Two weeks before that, he was charged with assaulting two police officers, one of whom suffered a broken wrist.
John said he believes the incident is a symptom of bigger problems with the way Canada deals with crime.
“All I can tell you is you feel less safe than you did 30 years ago,” he said, adding that the incident has left him hyper vigilant when he’s out in public.
He said the federal government needs to stiffen penalties and create legal provisions to “take care of people who cannot take care of themselves.”
“The everyday person that you talk to knows that the system doesn’t work, and they know it has to change. And we know it has to change starting at the top, and I mean Ottawa,” he said.
“It means that you stop this catch and release and promise to appear, and you’ve got to punish people that need punishing and keep them from having the opportunity that they have to put the safety of the general public at risk.”
McFeeters, meanwhile, remains in custody and is due back in court on Friday for a bail hearing.
— with files from Rumina Daya
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.