Crown seeking three years for violent slashing incident

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on September 28, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

A Lethbridge man who slashed a motorist in the face with a knife could face as much as three years in a federal prison if the judge agrees with a recommendation by the Crown.

Crown Prosecutor Dawn Janecke said Tuesday in Lethbridge provincial court Peter Ajang should go to prison for 30 to 36 months for slashing his victim in the face after the driver struck Ajang with his vehicle more than a year ago.

Lethbridge lawyer Marcus Mueller, however, suggested his client receive a jail sentence between 12 and 20 months and be placed on probation for a lengthy period of time.

Mueller agreed the offence calls for a custodial sentence, but said his client was somewhat provoked to an angry response after he was “mildly hit” by a truck in August 2021 while he was riding his bike on a crosswalk. Mueller also suggested even though Ajang reacted violently, it was a “measured” reaction, and Ajang chose to slash his victim rather than stab him.

“There is an appreciable difference in terms of the amount of harm that you’re causing someone and the amount of harm that is foreseeable that you are causing someone,” Mueller said.

Mueller pointed out his client was already frustrated and angry because earlier in the day he had been evicted from his residence and the landlord refused to return his damage deposit of nearly $1,000 and a $500 credit for the next month’s rent.

Ajang pleaded guilty in December to one count of aggravated assault, and admitted he attacked the driver after he was hit with the victim’s vehicle. But during a hearing in April to go over disputed facts, Ajang claimed the driver provoked him by yelling “f— you, black man.” The Crown disputed Ajang’s claim, and the victim testified in April he never called Ajang any names and only apologized for striking him with his vehicle and asked if he was OK.

The following June, Judge Erin Olsen gave her decision and rejected Ajang’s claim that the motorist hurled racial slurs moments before he was attacked.

A dashcam in the vehicle shows the vehicle stopped on 2 A Avenue North before preparing to turn right onto 13 Street. While the driver is watching for traffic from his left, his vehicle slowly inches forward just as Ajang enters the crosswalk on his bike. The video shows the vehicle bumping into Ajang, who doesn’t fall down, then Ajang approaches the driver’s side of the vehicle, walking momentarily out of the dashcam’s view, before reappearing, getting on his bike and riding away.

One of two witnesses for the Crown was in a nearby vehicle and turning left onto 13 Street from 2 A Avenue, and saw the victim’s vehicle bump into Ajang. He heard someone say, “I’m sorry, are you OK?” Then he heard the upset cyclist yelling and saw him strike the driver in the face. Another motorist who was stopped on 13 Street said he could tell the victim was concerned about the man he had just hit with his vehicle, but the cyclist, who was visibly irate, struck him in the face then rode off on his bike.

One of the witnesses followed Ajang until police caught up with him, while the other witness assisted the victim, whose injury was so serious blood poured from his face and he later required 17 stitches to close the three-inch gash on his left cheek.

As Ajang was being arrested he pulled out a knife and threw it on the ground. The knife, court was told, still had the victim’s blood on it.

Olsen is scheduled to sentence Ajang when he returns to court Oct. 19.

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