Two men are recovering after a bizarre attack on a B.C. Gulf Island in which the pair was allegedly attacked by a man donning gloves with blades attached.
Sgt. Danny Willis of the Saltspring Island RCMP said he's never seen anything like it.
"The gloves have metal knuckles and metal fronts and sharp blades at the ends of the fingers, kind of like fingernails at the end," he told ctvbc.ca in a telephone interview.
"They're more like gauntlets than gloves. They're longer up the arm and look like they've been made by a craftsman. Very intricate."
Police say the victims, aged 54 and 56, were slashed across the face outside of the Fulford Inn on Saltspring Island around 10 p.m. Monday night.
Ambulance attendants treated the men for non-life threatening facial lacerations. Both are expected to recover.
Police found the 39-year-old suspect walking down Fulford-Ganges Road a short time later.
He was arrested close to the scene. Police dogs found a weapon matching the description close by.
Lorn Nelson faces two charges of assault with a weapon and one charge each of uttering threats, mischief and possession of a weapon.
Willis said Mounties have had previous contact with him several times, but not for anything major.
The manager of the Fulford Marina said Nelson lives on a boat that he keeps moored in the harbour.
"We get quite a few transients in the summer time and there are quite a few colourful characters but something like that is really off the cuff," Joe Anderson told ctvbc.ca.
"It's a small town and really laid back. Nothing like this has happened before."
Nelson appeared in a Duncan courtroom Wednesday morning. He was remanded into custody to undergo a full psychiatric assessment.
His next court appearance is expected Oct. 6.
Nelson has two previous convictions for assaults dating back to December 2005 in Victoria. He was given a one-year conditional sentence and a year's probation.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Saltspring RCMP at 250-537-5555 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
