Slashing attack on motorist nets accused almost three years

By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on October 21, 2022.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com

Slashing a motorist in the face with a knife has earned a Lethbridge man nearly three years in a federal penitentiary.
Peter Ajang was sentenced Wednesday in Lethbridge provincial court to 33 months in prison on a single charge of aggravated assault stemming from a violent incident in Lethbridge more than a year ago.
During sentencing, Judge Erin Olsen told Ajang that even though a Crown recommendation to sentence him for as much as three years is appropriate, she decided to reduce it slightly for several reasons.
“I think that three years does not give quite enough emphasis to Mr. Ajang’s personal circumstances…nor to the principle of restraint in sentencing,” Olsen said. “I will reduce his sentence somewhat because of what I conclude is reduced moral blameworthiness or personal responsibility for this offender.”
Ajang pleaded guilty in December to one count of aggravated assault, and admitted he attacked the driver of a vehicle that struck him in 2021 while he was riding a bike through a crosswalk. 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 he never called Ajang any names and only apologized for striking him with his vehicle and asked if he was OK.
In 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.
During a sentencing hearing last month, Lethbridge lawyer Marcus Mueller agreed the offence calls for a custodial sentence, but recommended his client go to jail for 12 to 20 months and be placed on probation for a lengthy period of time. Mueller suggested his client was somewhat provoked to an angry response after he was “mildly hit” by the truck in August 2021. 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.
In addition to his prison sentence, Ajang must submit a sample of his DNA for the National DNA Data Bank, and he is prohibited for life from possessing weapons.

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