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Violent truck attack in shadow of Jorgenson tower

By Don McHoull

A man was slashed in the face and almost run over by a pick-up truck after a barroom argument at Goldie Foxx spilled onto Gerrard Street East, just beside Ryerson University.

The attack occurred early Friday morning. Bar manager Alex Marsilii said two men began yelling at one another just before the bar closed.

“I don’t know what the hell they were arguing about,” said Marsilii. “One of them called the other one a faggot.”

Marsilii said the two men had calmed down by the time the bar closed.

Police said the fight resumed when the men left the bar, and one of the men pulled out a knife and slashed the other in the face. The suspect then fled the scene, leaving the victim bleeding from the face in the alley that separates Jorgenson Hall from Goldie Foxx.

A few minutes later the suspect was back, this time behind the wheel of a dark blue pick-up truck. Police said the man drove the vehicle onto the sidewalk in an attempt to run the other man over. The wounded man was helped by a group of people on the street, who managed to push him out of the truck’s path and safely behind a wall.

Marsilii said he didn’t witness the attack, but heard a loud noise coming from the back alley while he was working inside the bar around 3:20 a.m.

“I heard the sound of truck tires screeching, a lot of times,” he said.

Ian John, a 50-year-old man from Oakville, Ont., has been charged with assault, assault with a weapon, and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.

John had recently begun working at Goldie Foxx as a promotions manager.

Goldie Foxx owner Bill Belingat said staff were shocked to learn what had happened.

“It’s hard to believe that someone … would do this,” he said.

The victim of the attack was treated for his injuries and released from hospital. Bar staff said he was the former promotions manager.

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