A Penticton, B.C. courtroom erupted into an angry, expletive-filled shouting match Thursday as a man accused of beating and sexually assaulting a young mother in front of her child made his first appearance.

David Wesley Bobbitt, who faces one charge of attempted murder, was arrested without incident as he walked along Highway 97 in Osoyoos late Wednesday night.

Family and friends of the victim, including the father of her 22-month-old son, filled the courtroom Thursday afternoon to glimpse Bobbitt in his brief appearance.

Emotions boiled over quickly, with obscenities and threats flying between the victim's sister and the accused, who was wearing an orange jumpsuit with his head shaved.

The angry outbursts continued outside as Bobbitt was escorted into a police vehicle.

"Die you f------ piece of s---," one onlooker screamed. "I'm going to f------ do you myself."

Judge Marguerite Shaw put Bobbitt's case over to Aug. 31 so he can undergo a 30-day psychiatric assessment.

Bobbitt had been on the lam since a 22-year-old woman was found bound and beaten inside of his second-hand store on the weekend.

Cpl. Dan Moskaluk said a local orchardist just south of Oliver noticed a man setting up camp on his property and alerted police. The property owner said he recognized Bobbitt after a conversation between them.

The man contacted a off-duty police officer friend, who immediately alerted authorities.

Hugiette Trudel, a fruit picker working on the cherry farm, told CTV News the suspect was wearing a black scarf, and she recognized him right away.

"I said ‘Oh, that's him.' I saw the paper maybe an hour before. I was scared," Trudel said.

Trudel said Mounties removed the scarf before putting Bobbitt in handcuffs and leading him to a waiting cruiser.

"He was peaceful. He just stayed quiet, that's it," she said.

Police say the victim was bashed repeatedly in the head with a hammer and sexually assaulted over a 15-hour period beginning on Saturday. Her son was found unharmed inside the store.

Cpl. Dan Moskaluk said the victim and her family were the first to know that the suspect was apprehended.

"Certainly for them the news was tremendous in the sense that this is the first time for several days that this family and this victim have had any rest whatsoever," he told reporters at a news conference in Penticton.

Moskaluk said that the victim has been petrified.

"This young woman was very exhausted, was very worried about a reprisal, or her being found again and being attacked," he said.

Sharon O'Connor, a friend of the victim, said she was "bouncing off the wall" after hearing news of Bobbitt's arrest.

"She had a big smile, like a permanent smile. She wanted to go home but not until he was caught," O'Connor said, adding that she is now home resting in her own bed.

"She's well loved right now. She's looking really good."

The young woman went missing on Saturday afternoon. Her family was concerned because she was supposed to drop off her young son before going to work but never arrived.

Loved ones searched for her all night, and broke down the door of the second-hand store after finding her car abandoned outside.

The victim was found bound and beaten, with her child nearby.

A trust fund for her and her son has been set up at TD Bank under the name "Support for Penticton Hostage Survivors."

Bobbitt was set to be evicted from his business the day of the attack. His landlord told CTV News that his tenant owed more than $15,000 in unpaid rent.

Bobbitt was convicted in 2005 of possessing a weapon for dangerous purposes in connection to an incident a year earlier in Nelson. Police say there have been several investigations into his alleged violent behaviour, but no formal charges.

Investigators say the victim may have visited the store before, but that the recent attack appears to have been random.

Meanwhile, police are making another appeal to the public in hopes of learning Bobbitt's whereabouts after the incident.

"This case remains our highest priority," Cpl. Moskaluk said.