Cambridge man stripped off clothing, assaulted two

KITCHENER — A Cambridge man with no criminal record was in a druginduced psychosis when he stripped naked and knocked on a neighbour’s door, court was told on Thursday.

The man, 44, then drove off, hitting two cars and assaulting two people.

“He’s extremely embarrassed and remorseful,” said the man’s defence lawyer, Bernard Cummins.

Police were called in the early afternoon of April 8 for a report of a naked man knocking on a door in the Hespeler area of Cambridge. The woman inside the house told him to leave. He went to another door of the house. The woman locked the door and he fled.

Backing out of his driveway, the man struck a parked car and failed to stop. He then repeatedly ran into another car. He got out and approached the driver. He pulled on the driver’s jacket and tried to get into the driver’s car. Then he poked a female passenger in the throat. She exited and kicked at him. He drove off toward her.

Later, a woman called police to report a car tailgating and driving erratically on Highway 401. Police found the car unoccupied on Trussler Road in Wilmot Township. A police dog helped track him down beside the back door of a house.

Although the Crown said the man was naked when he was arrested, Cummins said in an interview he put on clothes after knocking on the woman’s door. Justice Scott Latimer wanted to know what prompted a man with no criminal record and a good job to do what he did.

“Several things were occurring at the time,” Cummins said. “He was diagnosed with a medical illness three years ago that caused him considerable embarrassment. He did not want to relay that information to his family. He felt that they would not receive it well.

“The consequence of the embarrassment that he was feeling caused him to turn to illicit drugs. As best as I can tell, there was a drug-induced psychosis at play here.”

The man was using methamphetamine, Cummins said. He pleaded guilty to careless driving and two counts of assault.

“This is inexplicable behaviour until Mr. Cummins tells me the other things that were going on,” the judge said. “People don’t just do inexplicable things — there’s often a reason — particularly 44-year-old people who are prosocial and have no prior criminal record.”

Latimer handed him a conditional discharge, meaning he will have no criminal record if he stays out of trouble. He was fined $900 and banned from driving for three months. He must take substance abuse counselling while on probation for a year.

The man apologized in court.