Prison time for striking senior on head with baseball bat

A man was sentenced to five and a half years in prison on Monday after he struck a 67-year-old man in the back of the head with a baseball bat in “a random, unprovoked assault in broad daylight.”

“You were released from a lengthy custodial sentence relating to a weapons offence, and it is only a matter of hours that you are in possession of a weapon and assaulting people, in one case — maybe both cases — total strangers in downtown Brandon,” Judge Patrick Sullivan said in Brandon provincial court.

Dexter Wombdiska, 44, previously pleaded guilty to one count of assault with a weapon, which covered two separate assaults.

On Jan. 15, a woman called the Brandon Police Service at 12:55 p.m. and said she saw a man hit another man in the face with a baseball bat. She described the victim as young and Indigenous.

She told police the assailant walked away toward Princess Avenue, bat in hand and wearing sweatpants with blood stains on the back.

At 12:56 p.m., a surveillance camera in the area captured Wombdiska walking down the street as described.

At 12:57 p.m., the video showed Wombdiska strike another victim in the back of the head with the bat.

Officers arrested Wombdiska at 1 p.m. in The Town Centre parkade and found the bat, which Kok said was covered in the victim’s blood.

Officers followed trails of blood to the Women’s Resource Centre, where they found the second victim — a 67-year-old man — with a “deep laceration” on his head, the Crown said.

The victim said he was walking with his family, including two children and his wife, when he was hit in the head with a bat by a “complete stranger.”

The day before this offence, Wombdiska was sentenced in Winnipeg to nearly nine months of time served for several charges.

The charges included assault with a weapon, which stemmed from an incident in 2024, when Wombdiska was reported to police for swinging a two-foot-long machete and trying to attack pedestrians.

Kok said the main victims in the 2024 incident were a man and his two-year-old daughter.

She said Wombdiska was either released that evening after his sentencing or in the morning before his offending in Brandon.

Kok said Wombdiska rationalized his behaviour and showed “very little remorse” in his pre-sentence report. He said he was under the influence of alcohol and methamphetamine.

She said he didn’t take any opportunities to seek counselling or participate in residential treatment to address his addiction, which the Crown believes is directly linked to his offending.

Kok said it’s mitigating that Wombdiska pleaded guilty to the offence, albeit on the morning of his trial, but the aggravating factors are plentiful.

“We know nothing about the first victim,” Kok said. “The court can certainly infer, however, that anyone who is struck in the head with a baseball bat is likely to suffer both physical and psychological injuries.”

However, she said there is more information on the second victim, who she described as a “completely innocent community member.”

In a victim impact statement provided to the court, the man described the blood from his head “pooling” in the snow and his daughter screaming and crying at the sight of him being attacked. He said his daughter later thought he was being murdered.

“This troubles us deeply, as it could have easily ended with a more serious injury. It also affects our friends and members of the community. We, as a community, clearly need to recover some sense of security,” Kok read from the statement.

She said anyone walking down Princess Avenue during their lunch hour could have been the victim of this “unprovoked violence and attack.”

“It’s something that every member of the public fears — that a random, unprovoked assault in broad daylight by a violent individual with a weapon is going to happen against them,” Kok said.

Wombdiska has 138 convictions on his record. Kok said this is deeply concerning, especially since it’s littered with related offences.

“The only way we can protect the public and the only way we can ensure the message is clear is that lengthy custodial sentences are given.”

She asked for a sentence of five and a half years, while defence lawyer Bob Harrison argued for three and a half.

Harrison said that before he assaulted the two men, Wombdiska had been “severely” beaten up but hadn’t reported it to police. Wombdiska lifted his shirt to show the scars on his back.

He said Wombdiska deserved a lot better in life. His father was in and out of jail, and he was either in foster care or with his grandmother, who attended residential school and was abusive toward him, the court heard.

“It’s heartbreaking, frankly, to see what he’s put up with in the past.”

Harrison said Wombdiska has taken some programming while in jail, but it’s been difficult for him, and he’s feeling broken down and exhausted.

“Let’s not give up on this person,” he said.

When given a chance to speak, Wombdiska said he had no recollection of the incident and that while he’s not making excuses, he doesn’t think he struck the men intentionally.

“I do work out all the time. If it was intentional, I’m sure it would be a lot worse than a laceration,” he said.

Regardless, he said he took responsibility for taking drugs that day and would accept whatever sentence the judge imposed.

Sullivan said hitting two men in the head unintentionally is nonsensical, and there was obviously something on his mind that caused him to conduct himself this way.

He emphasized the seriousness of the offence and said Wombdiska needed to be separated from the community.

» sanderson@brandonsun.com