A 27-year-old Peterborough man has been charged with assault with a weapon, following an incident on a local trail that police are classifying as a hate crime.
On Monday (May 20) at around 10:20 a.m., the victim was riding their bicycle on a trail in the area of Park and Romaine Streets when the accused, who was walking on the trail at the time, began yelling homophobic slurs at the victim.
It was reported that the accused then began chasing and attempting to strike the victim with a metal broomstick.
The victim left the area and the incident was reported to police.
Shortly after officers located the accused in the area of Aylmer Street, where he was arrested and charged.
Ivan John Dawson, 27, of Murray Street in Peterborough, has been charged with assault with a weapon and failure to comply with a probation order.
Dawson was was released from custody and is scheduled to appear in court on June 11, 2019.
Peterborough Police Service have classified the incident as a hate crime due to the comments made at the time of the offence.
A hate crime is a criminal offence committed against a person or property which is motivated by the suspect/offender’s hate bias against a racial, religious, ethnic, sexual orientation, or disability group.
