'What's happening to our town?': Penticton man in coma after alleged assault on beach

A violent assault at a Penticton beach on Friday evening sent one man to hospital with a serious head injury.

A second man is in custody facing a number of criminal charges, including aggravated assault and sexual assault.

Doctors have placed 28-year-old Bradley Eliasonin a medically-induced coma because of swelling on his brain, according to his wife Chelsea Townend.

"They are just keeping him sedated until the brain heals," said Townend.

"Right now [I'm feeling] fearfear of the unknown. We are hoping and praying that he can come out of this."

Eliason was having a bonfire with friendsat one of Penticton's beach fire pitsFriday nightwhen the alleged assault happened, according to Townend.

Two unknown men approached the groupand started pestering some of the young people at the bonfire.

Townend said one manallegedlytried to remove agirl's shirtand that is when her husband and his friend intervened.

The men got into an altercation and eventually movedonto asidewalk near the beach on Lakeshore Drive, according to Townend. That is where the manallegedlypunched Eliason, causing him to fall to the ground and hit his head on the pavement.

Eliason was rushed to the hospital and later transferred to Kelowna General Hospital where he underwent brain surgery.

"We are hoping that he can come out of this unscathed and somewhat back to his normal self," Townend said.

Alleged attacker facing multiple charges

A 21-year-old man,Thomas Kruger-Allen,was arrested and charged withaggravated assault, sexual assault and two counts of common assault, according toRCMP Staff Sergent Bob Vatamaniuck.

"This is an unfortunate event that has impacted many lives," said Vatamaniuck.

Vatamaniuckasked anyone who witnessed the altercation and hasn't yet spoken to police tocontact the Penticton RCMP.

Townend is staying by her husband's side in hospital, waiting for doctors to bring him out of his coma to see how he respondsto the surgery.

Meanwhile she's wondering about incidents of violence and crime in Penticton that she says have shot upover the past few years.

"What's happening to our town? It's getting out of control," Townend said.

"It's pretty bad that you can't have a bonfire at the beach without being assaulted."