Pubdate: Mon, 13 Apr 2015
Source: Edmonton Journal (CN AB)
Copyright: 2015 The Edmonton Journal
Website: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/134
Author: Ryan Cormier
Page: A6

FAMILY BAFFLED AND TRAUMATIZED BY ATTACK

Mistaken for drug dealer, father of four beaten in
home

The family of a 36-year-old man mistaken for a drug dealer and badly
beaten in his home Friday night have been left shaken by the bloody
ordeal.

Shortly before the attack, the man and his wife were quietly watching
television after three of their children went to bed, his mother-inlaw
said Sunday. The victim left his southwest Edmonton home around 11:20
to smoke a cigar and was confronted by masked men. One of the men had
a gun.

The father of four was beaten and dragged back into his residence in
what police believe was a "wrongfully targeted" attack.

"Those men kept yelling that they wanted the drugs," the mother-in-law
said.

"My daughter kept telling them they must have the wrong house. They
have absolutely no idea why they would be targeted. They absolutely
live for their children. Why anyone would think these people would
have drugs is beyond me."

Police say four men beat and threatened the man in his house, while a
fifth restrained his wife. At one point, she was also assaulted and
the couple's toddler fell from her arms, but was not hurt.

"With that gun on the scene, my daughter thought they were going to
die that night," her mother said.

Police say the suspects fled after the couple's three other children
were awoken and witnessed the end of their father's beating.

The man required 100 stitches to close his wounds.

"Physically, he will be OK," his mother-in-law said. "Unfortunately,
the aftermath of this is worse than the crime in some ways. The police
will probably never catch these guys. Those men ruined six lives."

On Sunday, extended family members were cleaning the home, but the
family of six still hadn't returned to the MacEwan neighbourhood house
they've lived in for a decade.

"The whole family is traumatized and shaken," acting detective Anna
Sinclair stated in a news release Saturday night.

The family's white Lhasa Apso dog ran away during the attack, but has
since been found by neighbours and returned.

Investigators want MacEwan neighbourhood residents to check their
yards for any suspicious items the suspects may have dropped.

One suspect is a white man who stands five-foot-11, with a slim build
and sandy blond hair. The other four wore black masks.
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