Fired employee assaults manager at Vernon business

A 37-year-old Vernon man, who had been hired by a Vernon business to do some contract work, pulled a knife on the manager last week when he was told he’d been fired. Officers were called to a disturbance at a business on 58 Avenue in the area of Walmart in Vernon’s north end at around 8:10 a.m. Thursday, May 16, according to an RCMP media release issued today, May 21. RCMP don’t identify the business. When police arrived, they saw a man with a knife forcing people into a taxi at knife point. Turns out the man had just been fired and had just physically assaulted the manager who fired him. “At this point, the employee produced a knife that he stole from a display case inside the business,” Vernon RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Tania Finn said in the release.  “The employee chased after the manager and was threatening to harm him with the knife.” RCMP said the manager escaped and the suspect tried to get away in a cab that was waiting at the curb. “Fortunately, the manager was able to escape and the suspect attempted to flee in a taxi cab that happened to be waiting curbside,” the media release read. “When the taxi driver refused the suspect service and ordered him out of the cab, the suspect ran back into the business and exited through a rear door where he was seen fleeing into the bushes.” There was a quick foot chase with police and the suspect was arrested. No one was hurt during the incident. A 37-year-old Vernon man has been charged with assault, assault with a weapon and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose. To contact a reporter for this story, email Howard Alexander mailto:halexander@infonews.ca  or call 250-309-5343 or email the editor mailto:news@infonews.ca . You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom mailto:tip@infonews.ca  and be entered to win a monthly prize draw. We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here https://infotel.ca/newsletter .