A West Kelowna mother says she fears for her son’s safety after being attacked in a park in the early hours of July 5.
Taylor Lange, 16, says she and two of her friends were sitting in Kinsman Athletic Park, listening to music and catching up. Later that evening, a white Dodge Ram accompanied by two men began shouting at them.
The truck proceeded to run away, but then the driver overturned and entered the parking lot. That’s when Taylor says that the two men started coming to her.
“His friends ran some distance and hid in some bushes, Taylor didn’t run far enough, he was confused,” said Taylor’s mother, Salina Oseworth.
Although Taylor tried to escape the pair, he found her hiding under a tree. Then Kishore says that he has been attacked. Osworth says her son has a broken nose, a cut on his face and bruises on his back.
“I think our neighborhood is safe, or I thought it was safe,” Osseworth said.
“It’s hard to sleep at night knowing that someone has hurt my son like this.”
Police are looking for two bearded men driving a white Dodge pickup truck, but they would also like to speak to people in the red hatchback car who were in the area at the same time. Osworth says she is keeping a close eye on her son after the attack.
“I told her no longer to go out at night, and not to walk home, or to be left at friends’ houses,” Oseworth explained.
Taylor is slowly recovering from his injuries, but he’s wondering why anyone would want to go after him and his friends.
“I don’t expect anything like this to happen in this area.”
Despite the horrifying experience, there was one shining moment. Two complete strangers stopped to help Lanz while he sat on the ground waiting for the paramedics.
“It was wonderful that someone actually stopped to help my boy and waited with him when he was scared and bruised and bloodied and made him feel safe at the time,” Osseworth he said.
Officials say the investigation is ongoing and anyone with information has been asked to contact the West Kelowna RCMP at 250-768-2880.