An 18-year-old Vancouver man allegedly flew into a violent rage over a Craigslist deal gone sideways and struck a 34-year-old man with a frying pan.
Police allege the victim was then choked, slashed with a knife and then driven to the hospital in his own car, which the accused attacker then stole.
Yeon Chul Peter Lee, 18, will appear in court Friday morning on five counts, including aggravated assault and unlawful confinement for his part in an alleged attack that police called “bizarre and violent.”
“This certainly is the most violent association in terms of an incident related to Craigslist or any social networking site,” said Const. Jana McGuinness outside police headquarters Thursday.
“This one is particularly disturbing because we don’t know at this point what provoked it.”
According to police, the 18-year-old man answered an advertisement for a for-sale Lexus on Craigslist, a popular online classified service.
He contacted the owner and arranged to have him drive the car to his West End apartment the following day.
The two met about 10:30 a.m. on June 9.
As they were discussing the car, the younger man allegedly flew into an inexplicable rage and struck the older man twice with a frying pan.
As the victim struggled to call 9-1-1, he was choked and then slashed with a knife across the face, head and chest, police said.
“In what can only be considered a very strange twist, the suspect then offered to drive the victim to the hospital,” McGuinness said.
The 18-year-old allegedly dropped the man off at a health clinic and then drove off in the Lexus.
Police arrested him five hours later at his Barclay Street apartment.
The victim’s injuries were not life threatening, McGuinness said. He was treated and released and is recovering at home.
