Halloween assault shocks Samaritans


Chronicle Staff

By Greg MacDonald

News

Nov 12, 2008

Halloween turned into a real horror for two university students after they were beaten up on University Avenue.

Jonathan Volpe, who attends the University of Guelph, and his girlfriend, Wilfrid Laurier University student Anna Spehr, were walking home from a party when they got caught in the middle of an altercation.

The two were returning home from a Halloween party and were near McGinnis Frontrow when they found themselves between two groups of people.

“There were a couple of guys in front of us and six behind,” Volpe said. The two groups started yelling at each other and soon the six men attacked one person in the first group.

“They were kicking and punching him,” Volpe said. “They were relentless.”

He and Spehr interjected themselves into the situation and Volpe helped the injured man up.

“Why are you doing this?” Spehr asked the group.

“You want some b---h?” one responded, and then punched her in the face.

That’s when Volpe got involved in the fight.

“I pushed the guy into the street and they started beating me,” he said. “I just put my hand up in front of my face and tried to block it.”

He ended up with a black eye and some bruising, while Spehr left the incident with a sore face.

Volpe was angered by the event and hasn’t been able to shake that feeling since.

“These guys have clearly done this before and may strike again. I was lucky enough to avoid serious injuries but these guys must be punished,” he said.

“Who hits a girl and beats people in small groups like that for absolutely no reason?”

Now Volpe is asking any witnesses to the event to go to the police so that the offenders can be brought to justice.

“There were people around, I’m surprised no one said anything or tried to help,” he said.

Spehr, who lives at Westmount Road and University, has never seen anything like this during her time in Waterloo.

She couldn’t believe it after she got hit.

“I was in shock,” she said. “I was just standing there thinking ‘are you kidding me?’”

The 21-year-old has felt comfortable walking home along University but said she might reconsider it from now on.

“I don’t want to live in fear,” she said. “I guess I’ll just take a taxi next time.”

An incident like this one is fairly uncommon in Waterloo, said Staff Sgt. Warren Haasnoot of the Waterloo regional police.

“Periodically with the high concentration of bars and over-consumption of alcohol, groups get involved in disputes but generally it is not an issue,” he said.

Halloween can see a spike in calls, but they are not necessarily serious ones, he said.

Haasnoot recommends staying back if you come upon a serious altercation.

“It’s best to call the police,” he said. “There’s a risk to getting involved. Call 911.”