A St. Thomas family was left shaken after a man allegedly confronted them with a bat screaming “Terrorists” and “ISIS.”
The incident occurred around 4:30 p.m. Thursday in the parking lot at the Elgin Mall after reports came in of a man with a bat attacking another man.
A video of the incident obtained by CTV London shows a man coming out of a white BMW armed with a yellow bat.
For unknown reasons the man quickly becomes agitated and begins screaming at the family. At one point he appears to take a couple of swings at the operator of the video, Sergio Estepa, who sustained injuries to his arms and a rib.
Estepa and his wife Marie Zambrano, who was also present during the incident, told CTV News the it started when the man yelled at their friend that she didn't belong here.
The couple's 13-year-old son was also with them.
The couple came to Canada from Colombia 17 years ago.
Estepa says he is not sure why the man came after them but said, "I think it was my beard..and the fact we speak with an accent."
Their son was terribly frightened, his mother said. But the family's concerns have eased after police arrested a man.
Police located the suspect in south London around 9 p.m. Thursday night. The suspect’s last known address is Toronto.
In a release, police said they are investigating the incident as a racially motivated crime.
Mark Phillips, 36, is facing charges of aggravated assault and three counts of assault with a weapon.
