Pleas expected in senior assault case
By Shurtz, Delon on April 4, 2020.
Delon Shurtz
lethbridge herald
A man facing several charges in relation to the brutal assault of an elderly woman in her home last year is expected to enter pleas when he returns to court later this month.
Adam Hobkirk-Onate was in Lethbridge provincial court Friday where the judge was told the accused had reviewed an agreed statement of facts with his lawyer and would take a step toward resolving the charges on April 27.
“Everything should be done by then,” Lethbridge lawyer Wade Hlady said.
Hobkirk-Onate is charged with aggravated assault, housebreaking to commit a robbery and being disguised with intent to commit an indictable offence.
Police reported a man broke into a 75-year-old woman’s home in the 3000 block of Fairway Street South during the early morning hours of May 21, 2019, and spent the night in a basement bedroom while the elderly woman slept upstairs.
Police said the accused remained in the woman’s home for about 18 hours until she heard a noise and went to investigate. She encountered a masked man who punched her in the face several times, knocked her to the ground and dragged her to the garage where he repeatedly struck her in the head with a bicycle before fleeing in her vehicle.
Police and EMS arrived at the victim’s home after receiving a 911 call from a neighbour and found the badly beaten woman suffering from injuries to her head and face. She was rushed to the hospital and treated for several broken bones in her nose and other head injuries.
At about 10:40 p.m. the following day, a police officer dealing with an unrelated matter on the southside noticed a vehicle drive by with its headlights off and a licence plate matching the stolen vehicle. The officer stopped the vehicle and arrested the driver.
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