The 80-year-old man from Beiseker who was airlifted to hospital after a road rage incident on Jan. 5 has reportedly been released from the hospital and is recovering at home.
Chris Shearer, a 56-year-old Drumheller resident, has been charged with aggravated assault, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, robbery, and mischief.
After being taken before a justice of the peace, he was remanded into custody with his next court date set for Feb. 1, at the Alberta Court of Justice in Airdrie.
Shearer came into the Beiseker detachment advising that he was just involved in a physical altercation with another male at the Centex gas station on Jan. 5 around 8 a.m. He told police he may have injured him.
The victim was an 80-year old man later identified online as Bob, who was admitted to hospital with serious injuries.
“Nobody wants to see this in any community, right?” said Beiseker’s mayor David Ledoyen.
“Road rage is obviously there. It happens everywhere. Nobody ever wants to see that escalate to such a situation.”
Ledoyen commended the employees of the Centex gas station for their quick response in a volatile situation.
They reached out for help immediately and helped the gentleman until a medical response team was on scene.
“STARS was there and our local fire department was on scene right away,” Ledoyen said. “I think that needs to be commended, everybody jumped in regardless of the situation. So I think that's huge.”
Although it is still unclear as to what exactly led up to the assault, the RCMP investigation indicates it was the result of a road rage incident that occurred on the Highway.
After the assault, Shearer broke the victims vehicle window and stole his vehicle keys as was seen on surveillance footage from the gas station.
