‘He just kept swinging’: police investigate assault at Prince Albert retail store

By Nigel Maxwell

Prince Albert police are investigating an incident involving a woman being assaulted by a stranger, who allegedly took offence to her not following what he believed were the proper COVID-19 protocols.

The assault happened early Tuesday afternoon at a business in the city’s South Hill area. Roma Carson, 49, told paNOW she was out shopping for a space heater, when a stranger came up to her in an aisle, and started swearing at her. Gesturing at the arrow stuck to the floor, the man asked Carson if she could read, informing her she was going the wrong way.

“I walked away and thought that was the end of it,” she said.

Minutes later, after finding the store’s space heaters, Carson said the man approached her a second time and asked if she had learned how to read yet.

“I just ignored him and I thought he was going to walk right by but he didn’t. He grabbed me and he threw me right into the shelf,” she said.

Carson explained when she yelled at the man, telling him to take his hands off her, he then knocked the phone out of her hand and proceeded to punch her multiple times in the back of the head, and even pulled her jacket over her head.

“He just kept swinging,” Carson said. “I was just trying to get him off of me and was yelling and screaming.”

Hearing the woman’s screams, two store employees came around the corner, and according to Carson that was the moment when the man stopped the assault. He was soon after escorted out of the store while Carson stayed behind, informing staff she wanted to press charges.

“It was pretty shocking and upsetting and traumatic. I wasn’t expecting that at all like to go just shopping,” she said.

Noting how she declined medical attention at the time of the incident, only to experience headaches later in the day, Carson said she planned to go see a doctor on Wednesday. She also expressed hesitation about going anywhere alone again.

“Every time I tried to sleep, all I could see was his face,” she said.

At the beginning of the pandemic, a number mandates were instituted in Saskatchewan including capacity limits at stores and restaurants, and rules to help control social distancing. Many of those protocols were however lifted last July, and as of Feb. 2, only mandatory masking and proof of vaccination or a negative test remain.

In a number of cases though the directional markers still remain at a number of retail and grocery stores. Whether they are enforced is up to the business itself. Bill Powalinsky, Chair of the Prince Albert and District Chamber of Commerce, told paNOW he had not heard of any incidents like the one described by Carson. He then added the majority of push back he hears about is directed towards staff.

“For the most part people are understanding but they do get in situations where the odd person will take exception and they don’t want to wear a mask or show their identification,” he said.

Going forward, Powalinsky encouraged the public to be tolerant and patient around store employees trying to do their job.

“It’s something they have to do and it would be just nice if people could cooperate,” he said.

A spokesperson for the Prince Albert Police Service confirmed the incident Tuesday was being investigated, but could not offer any further details.

Carson said the man who attacked her was middle aged (50’s) and caucasian, and was wearing a green jacket and a black baseball cap. He was seen leaving the parking lot in a truck. It’s unclear if any of the store’s security cameras captured his image.