Rail Trail Cafe on Kalamalka Road (Submitted photo/Candoo Ooo)

By Liam Verster

Pictures of incident

Man accused of assaulting employee over mask requirement

Sep 9, 2021 | 10:31 AM

A Lake Country man was arrested after assaulting an employee and causing a disturbance at a Coldstream business.

The incident occurred just before 2 p.m. Tuesday, when the man entered The Rail Trail Cafe in the 13000-block of Kalamalka Road. He was not wearing a mask, and staff asked him to wear one in order to be on the business premises.

Picture of suspect and RCMP officer outside Rail Trail Cafe on Sept. 7, 2021. (Photo credit: Garthen Harder/submitted/Facebook)

The RCMP say staff repeatedly attempted to accommodate the man, but despite their efforts, he became belligerent and confrontational, escalating to a point where he threatened and then allegedly assaulted an employee.

Staff managed to eventually lock the suspect outside and the police were called.

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A Mountie responded to the scene, where the suspect was found to be still causing a disturbance outside the business.

As the officer was making the arrest, the man resisted and assaulted the officer.

After a brief struggle, the officer was again able to gain control of the man, who was taken into custody.

The 34-year-old suspect was released from custody later that day and faces a number of potential criminal charges. The incident remains under investigation.

Picture of suspect and RCMP officer outside Rail Trail Cafe on Sept. 7, 2021. (Photo credit: Garthen Harder/submitted/Facebook)

The Emily Dahl Foundation, a local group which promotes positive thoughts and happiness, says the anti-mask confrontation highlights people’s need for tolerance and raises the question: how does one cope with anger?

Sherman Dahl from the foundation said it’s critically important to note, all of the actions one might deem to be good can be destroyed by anger.

“The Emily Dahl Foundation would like to point out what would seem to be the obvious: that the dangers of hatred/anger and the value of patience as its antidote. The most common object of frustration and anger for most people is other people. The eschewing of anger must surely seem so fundamental it hardly needs comment. Yet, when think about it, and read this sad headline on Vernon Matters, righteous indignation and the desire for retaliation appears quite frequently in all walks of life, including religious contexts,” said Dahl.

The foundation says the community should express concern to deny any toehold for these emotions in order to find happiness and peace.