Be Careful Cycling on the Lochside Trail

In the pre-dawn hours (6:45 am) of November 11th 2021, there was an unprovoked attack upon a cyclist by a white middle aged male walking a dog of medium size. This assailant used a very high powered light affixed to his head to temporarily blind the cyclist while he assaulted him, attempting to drag him to the ground from his moving bicycle. The cyclist was dressed in reflective clothing and also had a front - rear light and managed to stay upright in spite of this attacker’s best efforts to inflict serious harm upon him (as you would expect being knocked to the ground from a moving bicycle…plus whatever else he had in mind ??). This assault took place approximately 150 meters north of the Don Mann facility on Lochside Drive, in a very dark section of the Lochside Trail. This attacker has been seen by the victim previously on the section of trail between Don Mann Excavating and Royal Oak Ave, walking in both directions (north and south) with this same dog in the pre-dawn and early morning hours. A complete report and detailed description of the suspect and his dog were provided to the Saanich Police immediately following this incident. If anyone else has a similar experience, or knows of someone else who has, please contact the police and report the incident, and also reference the date and time of this event so that police may apprehend this dangerous individual using all the information gathered. There is a regular community of individuals that use this trail for their daily commute or to do their early morning and evening exercise and training (running, walking and cycling). We recognize, acknowledge and respect one another. We need to stay united and help to protect those that are incredibly vulnerable to this type of senseless violence. Violence of this type seems to be on the rise. Just the previous day in our island region, there was this headline: “ Female jogger ‘violently’ assaulted by unknown man on trail in Nanaimo ” By Victoria Buzz Staff - Wednesday, November 10th, 2021 I suggest carrying a phone and even an air horn for personal safety. These trails can be very dark and isolated. Stay safe.