An Osoyoos woman is recovering from an assault by a car thief on April 29. (Contributed photo)

By Dale Boyd

Osoyoos Times

An Osoyoos resident is dealing with the aftermath of a break-in to her truck which resulted in an assault after she confronted the thief.

RCMP are still searching for a suspect after Lacey Petkau, single mother of two, was assaulted in the early morning hours on April 29 outside her home at the north end of Osoyoos. 

Petkau was about to head to work around 5 a.m. when she noticed a man in her truck.

“I walked around the corner and there was a gentleman leaning over my driver’s seat. I walked up behind him, I got two feet away. I said ‘what the f—?’ I scared him. He two-handed pushed me,” Petkau said.

She was pushed with such force it sent her flying back, hitting the back of her head twice.

The man, wearing black sweatpants and a dark grey hoodie, fled.

“After I hit my head I tried to get back up to chase after him because I was angry. I couldn’t get back up, I was fumbling, I couldn’t get there,” Petkau said.

She phoned the RCMP promptly and was taken by ambulance to the hospital in Oliver.

“I have previous head injuries from a few years ago when I cracked my skull and bruised my brain. So any blow to my head is very dangerous,” Petkau said.

“I’ve got double-vision now, I can’t be at work.”

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Petkau will be feeling the ramifications of the thoughtless attack for weeks to come. She said the assault resulted in a concussion.

“Now I can’t do my job. I can’t be on the road, there are safety and health regulations I have to abide by. So, now it’s taking money and food out of my kids’ mouths,” Petkau said.

A traffic control supervisor at Central Interior Traffic Control, many of the items stolen from her vehicle are work-related and worth nothing to anyone but Petkau.

The passenger side window of her truck was smashed in and tools were stolen, along with an expensive high-visibility jacket, a two-way cobra radio and even worse, sentimental and business related items and certifications, including a black leather binder with “Unity” and bright-yellow “Central Interior” stickers on it with valuable notes. Of course, those notes are only valuable to Petkau.

“It means nothing to anybody, but me,” Petkau said. “All my receipts for tax purposes are gone, they took my truck log where I log all my work. Which nobody needs but me.”

Other notable stolen items include a hard-case, colourful cigar holder with a skull on it and a sentimental Scrooge McDuck toy.

“It sounds stupid but it’s a little tiny toy, it was given to me by my aunt Sandy who passed away some years ago. It means nothing to nobody, but it’s one of those items that really hurt that it’s gone. She passed away a few years ago and it was something I gave to her as a kid. She kept it for 25 years and it’s gone.”

Many of her work-related items are labelled with stickers brandishing the Central Interior logo. 

The situation could have been worse, she said, and notes there are a lot of seniors in the area where she lives.

“If anyone pushed (a senior) like that, there would be a lot worse circumstances. I wanted to bring awareness because even though it’s hard for me because of my previous injuries, if I was a senior it could have been a lot worse. Also, there was a knife in my truck. It could have ended a lot worse. I’m lucky I didn’t get that when I scared him.”

Anyone with information can contact the RCMP’s non-emergency line at 250-495-7236.