EDMONTON — A man accused of breaking a woman's arms with a crowbar in what police have called a road rage attack was himself the victim of a violent crime in 2014.
Jared Matthew Eliasson, 28, has been charged with attempted murder, possession of a dangerous weapon and aggravated assault.
Police say the 34-year-old woman was driving to her Edmonton home Tuesday morning and honked her horn while passing a car that was stopped on a residential street.
When she got out of her vehicle, a man ran up and struck her on both arms with a crowbar. Police believe he was aiming at her head.
The woman was taken to hospital with serious injuries and is recovering from surgery.
Court records show that Eliasson and a friend were stabbed six times on July 12, 2014, while walking down a street. Eliasson, who was 26 at the time, had injuries to his abdomen and chest and underwent surgery in hospital.
In his victim impact statement to police, Eliasson described how he suffered emotionally and physically.
"I experienced pain unlike (any) I ever previously experienced as a result of the attack, the surgery and recovery from my six wounds," he wrote.
Eliasson said he was afraid to drive through the area where the attack occurred, had difficulty leaving his home and found it difficult to trust people.
"Day to day I feel a rotation of grief, rage and betrayal coupled with shame and misery of the physical scars I now bear to the end of my days. I have lost some of my dignity."
A news story on the 2016 trial said Chase Holloway was convicted of aggravated assault and of possessing a dangerous weapon and was sentenced to five years in jail.
The story said Holloway had taken methamphetamine before the attack and had mistaken Eliasson and his friend for other people.
Eliasson said the crime also affected his family.
"This reprehensible act has impacted not only myself but my immediate family who had to put their lives on hold to care for me, not only physically, but also emotionally," he wrote.
Belynda Schendzielorz, the sister of the woman who had her arms broken this week, has started a GoFundMe page to raise money to help cover some of her injured sibling's bills.
Schendzielorz said her sister cannot use her arms or fingers for even simple tasks and could be off work for three months.
"No words describe the terror of getting a call saying that someone has broke your sister's arms with a crowbar," she wrote on the web page.
Schendzielorz said when she looked into her sister's eyes she did not know how to answer her question: "Why would someone want to do this to me?"
Eliasson is being held in custody and is to appear in court on Monday.
