Victim outraged after Campbell River stabbing suspect found not guilty
Warning: This story contains graphic details.
A former security guard in Campbell River is outraged after the man suspected of stabbing him during a shoplifting incident in 2021 was cleared of all charges.
Ron Beaven was working as a security guard with his wife, Leanne Szaz, at the Walmart in Campbell River on Dec. 7, 2021, when he was stabbed multiple times.
The attack occurred when he asked a man to leave the store because he had been banned from the premises.
"Every time he comes, he was, 'I'm going to stick you and I'm going to kill you. I'm going to stab you.' It was every day," Beaven told CTV News on Monday.
Beaven and Szaz tried to stop the man from entering the store when he first arrived.
"I told him, 'You know you're not allowed in here. Get the hell out,'" said Szaz. "And he whips out a knife and says, 'I'll cut you."
Bodycam footage shows Beaven being stabbed multiple times as his wife rushes to his aid.
"He got me here, he got me three times in there, and two over here," said Beaven while pointing to his chest, arm and shoulder.
Meanwhlie, the man walked out of the store with five large televisions while blood poured from Beaven's body.
A suspect was arrested for the assault, but last week the couple learned that the man who was charged with the stabbing was found not guilty.
"He assaulted two big police officers," said Beaven. "He got off on everything he was up on charges for. How the hell do they allow that?"
The couple says the judge ruled that the man, who was known to police, could not be found guilty because he couldn't properly be identified.
"[It was] attempted murder, but oh no, wasn't enough evidence," said Beaven. "They've got film of me bleeding to death on the floor."
Szaz says the man was wearing a mask because of provincial health protocols during the pandemic. She adds that the knife was never recovered, meaning there was no DNA or fingerprint evidence to link the suspect to the crime.
The couple says they believe stores like Walmart need to take a stronger stance against thieves, and that Canada's justice system needs an overhaul.
"The store and our justice system does [nothing]," said Beaven. "It's all, 'Do what you want.'"
"How many people have to die or be hurt?" added Szaz. "It affects families, it alters their whole life forever, and I'm just one more voice, but how many voices is it going to take?"
The couple is now taking a much-needed break from security, trying to recover from an incident that took only moments, but will be with them for years to come.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.