Drunk man assaults passenger on SkyTrain: police

A member of the Greater Vancouver Transit Authority Police Service watches a SkyTrain leave the station in Vancouver, Monday, Dec. 5, 2005. (Richard Lam / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

A Langley, B.C. man has been charged with assault after allegedly punching a SkyTrain passenger Friday night.

Forty-year-old Neil Joseph Potter was extremely intoxicated when he got on the train at Metrotown Station at around 8:15 p.m., according to police.

Transit Police spokeswoman Anne Drennan said Potter, who is known to police, was swearing, yelling and threatening to fight two male passengers.

“They did all the right things,” Drennan said. “They tried to ignore the man, moved away from him and kept their heads down to show they weren’t interested. That generally is the right thing to do. If you quietly move away and just ignore somebody like this, generally speaking, you won’t have any more problems.”

Drennan said Potter became more aggressive, however, and tried to convince one of the men to get off the train at New Westminster Station to fight. When the man refused, Potter exited the train but jumped back on as the doors were closing and punched him in the face.

The other man jumped in between them and pushed the silent alarm. At the next stop, Columbia Station, Transit Police were waiting on the platform and arrested the suspect, Drennan said.

Potter was charged with one count of assault and police discovered he also has an outstanding warrant for assault and two for criminal harassment.

Drennan said passengers on the train were traumatized by the incident but unharmed.

Potter appeared in court Monday.