Kelowna woman calls for action on public safety in wake of frightening attack

A Kelowna woman says she’s still shaken after being violently attacked in broad daylight in the city’s downtown core, leaving her with bruises, a sore scalp and a large clump of missing hair.

“I was fighting with everything I had,” Robertson told Global News.

Robertson was waiting for a friend on the sidewalk in the 400-block of Lawrence Avenue shortly after 1 p.m. Sunday when a woman she didn’t know approached her.

Without warning, Robertson says the woman grabbed a handful of her hair, pulled hard and began punching her.

“She was about here from me, and she said, “I’m really sorry about this,” and she grabbed a mitt full of my hair and pulled it so hard and started pummeling me with her other hand,” Robertson said.

Robertson says she fought back, kicking at her attacker before the two fell to the ground.

Story continues below advertisement

“She twirled me around with my hair, and we fell to the ground. And then I started screaming for help,” Robertson said.

Robertson says she believes her screams scared the woman off.

The attacker fled with Robertson’s phone, but it was later recovered after Robertson connected with members of the Downtown Kelowna Association (DKA) red-shirt on-call team.

The DKA team managed to get a photo of the suspect, who was still in the area, and called police.

Get daily National news

Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you'll never miss the day's top stories.

Robertson says the experience has left her feeling shaken and less safe in an area she’s visited many times.

“I have never felt this unsafe here before,” she said.

2:12 Random attack victim speaks out

She says the realization of how much worse the attack could have been only hit her afterward.

Story continues below advertisement

“Oh My God, what is she had a knife?, Like, it really shook me then how close we came,” Robertson said. “She could have bashed my head into the ground or whatever.”

Robertson’s daughter, Nina Harder, posted a photo of the suspect on social media.

Harder said she had several people reach out since, sharing stories of encounters with the same woman.

“There was a lot of people who had said that they had recognized her and had seen her around town and also shared stories of similar attacks that had happened to them,” Harder said.

RCMP say they located a suspect the day after the Nov.1 attack adding that one person was taken into custody but has since been released.

Police say no charges have yet been laid but the investigation is ongoing.

“I was really upset and shocked how fast this you know, catch and release, really is,” Harder said. “I thought for sure that they would hold her longer.”

Robertson says she believes more needs to be done to address growing concerns around public safety.

“Like involuntary holding medical rooms, medical beds. They’ve talked about it, but it’s not happening,” Robertson said. “It’s time to push the boundaries a little more and try and demand some kind of action.”

Story continues below advertisement

Robertson added that she feels grateful she did not sustain more serious injuries.

“I have a couple of bruises and sore scalp and missing hair but other than that, I feel so grateful,” she said.