A Prince George man was found not guilty this week of a robbery and assault after the victim had trouble accurately describing a tattoo on his assailant and video from a nearby business was too murky to accurately identify the attacker.
Brent Lane Wilson, 26, sports a blue star-shaped tattoo under his right eye but during a trial for the May 2, 2015 incident, the victim testified he thought it was an iron cross.
Hours before the attack, the victim had arrived in Prince George to take on a tree planting job. After some time at a local nightclub, he was walking along Third Avenue when a man and woman who were walking alongside him dropped back.
He then felt what he thought was a gun pressed to the back of his head and the man demanded he hand over his wallet, according to testimony heard at the trial. He was then stuck in the jaw and the cards in his wallet were scattered across the sidewalk.
The lack of a firm identification of the attacker left B.C. Supreme Court Justice Ron Tindale with reasonable doubt that Wilson committed the crime.
Wilson did plead guilty to charges from an incident the next day when RCMP were called to a report of a man waiving a gun at a local motel.
Wilson was arrested at the scene and the gun, which turned out to be a pellet gun that did not appear to be in working order, was found around the corner.
Wilson had gotten into a confrontation with the motel's owner after it was suspected he had stolen a video camera from the foyer, the court was told.
On that matter, Wilson was sentenced to time served - he had remained in custody since his arrest - plus 18 months probation.
Wilson apologized for his actions when given a chance to speak to the court. Tindale commented that Wilson was lucky he wasn't shot by police given the nature of the call.
