Middle-aged woman punched in face by teen at Vernon skatepark

Photo: Contributed

UPDATE: 10:30 a.m.

Police confirm they are investigating a violent incident at Vernon's Polson Park skatepark Tuesday evening.

Vernon RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Tania Finn says the altercation happened about 6 p.m., between a woman and a group of youths over an allegedly stolen skateboard.

"The woman saw the skateboard unattended on the grass near the skatepark and believed it to be the same skateboard stolen from her son the week previously," says Finn. "When the woman went to retrieve the skateboard, she was surrounded by a group of youths. A confrontation occurred which resulted in the woman being struck in the face by one of the youths."

When a third party intervened, the group of youths fled, says Finn.

The suspect is described as a Caucasian male, age 15, about five-foot-five in height, with blonde, wavy hair. He was wearing a blue sweater.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to contact Const. Derzak at 250-545-7171 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477, or www.nokscrimestoppers.com.

ORIGINAL: 4 a.m.

A heated argument at the skatepark in Vernon’s Polson Park ended with a middle-aged woman being punched in the face by a teenager.

Video posted to the Vernon Rant and Rave (uncensored) Facebook group by Jay Sharma Tuesday night shows a grey-haired woman holding a skateboard, claiming it had been stolen from her son.

She is also holding a baton as she confronts the large group of youths gathered around her.

The incident is said to have happened Tuesday evening.

As the argument over the skateboard gets heated, a teenager snatches the board away from the woman, and then things get physical.

The woman is held back by one teen as another winds up and punches her in the face.

“If you’re this kid’s mom, you should be ashamed,” Sharma wrote on the post.

The post has accumulated more than 150 comments, with many slamming the teen’s actions, but some accusing the woman of threatening the group.

The incident appears to quickly end after the punch is thrown.

The confrontation was apparently reported to police, and Castanet has reached out to Vernon RCMP for more details.

The video of the event is so full of profanity we're not sharing it, but a frame grab clearly shows the youth winding up to punch the woman.

It’s not known if she was injured in the melee.