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A 21-year-old man has been charged with assault after allegedly attacking an autistic Richmond teenager at a basketball court.
Dominic Rallon Jao, of Ontario, has been charged with assault causing bodily harm after the incident at Richmond Secondary last August.
The alleged assault was reported to Richmond RCMP by two witnesses, however, the victim left the park prior to police attending.
Due to the significance of the injuries described by the witnesses, the officer went to Richmond Hospital where he found the victim.
“This is an excellent example of the key role the public plays in investigations,” said Cpl. Adriana O’Malley, of Richmond RCMP.
“We want to commend all of the witnesses that came forward and aided in our investigation. The evidence they provided was instrumental in identifying the alleged suspect.”
O’Malley added that after police spoke to the victim’s father, “it’s evident the profound impact this incident has had on their family.
“This was felt by our investigators who worked tirelessly throughout this investigation to support and in the words of the victim’s father ‘create a mental comfort zone’ for his son.”
According to a police statement a few days after the alleged assault, the boy was playing basketball at around 7 p.m. when he was apparently punched by another male, who had been made aware of the victim’s autism.
The victim, according to police, suffered a large cut to his lip and a concussion.
An email from the victim’s father to RCMP investigators talked about how “guilty” he felt about the situation.
“I always told him to embrace people, to talk to people, because people are good and he can only succeed together with people, and not alone,” said the email.
Richmond RCMP encourages anyone who may have witnessed or be in possession of evidence of a potential crime to report it to the police of jurisdiction. Should you wish to remain anonymous, contact Crimestoppers by phone at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or visit them online at www.solvecrime.ca.
