‘Covered in blood head to toe’: Surrey community rattled by overnight violence – BC

Residents of a South Surrey manufactured home park are shaken up after an apparently random assault and break-in attempt early Wednesday morning.

“I heard a bunch of banging and crashing, and then I heard some guy screaming and yelling help me! Help me! Help me!” said Terry Cashato, a neighbour in the Breakaway Bays community near King George Boulevard and 160th Street.

Part of the incident, which happened shortly before 1:30 a.m., was captured on security camera.

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The homeowners, who were too shaken up to go on camera, told Global News they heard sounds outside their mobile home, when suddenly a suspect rammed through their doorway.

A fight ensued, which then spilled out into the driveway. The homeowners say the man was yelling for him to give him their car keys.

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Julie and Jody Ropas, who live across the street, told Global News they awoke to loud banging on their own door and found their neighbour in rough shape.

“He was standing there covered in blood head to toe, him and his wife, asking for help,” Jody said.

“Both his legs were bleeding, his arms, his hands.”

Julie said the husband grabbed a hockey stick and ran back out into the street to ward off the attack.

“It was frightening,” she said. “There was blood dripping from him.”

Neighbours say the man then tried to break into two other homes and the community’s common building before police arrived.

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Surrey police said the city’s supporting RCMP unit responded and arrested a suspect at the scene. He remains in custody.

Police say the incidents appear random, and that the victims do not know the suspect.

The incident drew quick criticism from B.C.’s opposition Conservatives in the legislative question period, who said the province has failed to follow through on its pledge to detain people with severe brain injuries, drug addiction and mental health issues.

“How many more innocent victims need to suffer or die while this premier sits on his hands and this minister fails to open one single bed for involuntary care,” South Surrey-White Rock MLA Trefor Halford said.

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Health Minister Josie Osborne said the first such facility will open soon.

“We will be providing longer-term care at a newly designated facility for people who are held under the Mental Health Act, this first facility will open in Maple Ridge at Alouette Homes this spring,” she said.

Julie Ropas, meanwhile, said the incident has left the entire community shaken — and that it was lucky things didn’t turn out worse.

“If he picked the next house he probably would have killed them, because they’re old, frail,” she said.

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