UPDATE - 10:00pm 1 Oct - Alex Myros, the man charged in connection with the Sep 8 beating of Brandon Wright, appeared in a London courtroom today and was relased on $5,000 bail, the Canadian Press reports. Read the CP report here.

UPDATE - 11:30 am Sep 25 - Alex Myros, the man wanted in connection with the Sep 8 attack on Brandon Wright was arrested at the London International Airport on Sep 24.

Read the London Free Press report here.

He is scheduled to appear in court on Sep 25.

UPDATE - 7:45am Sep 16 - Alex Myros, the man wanted in connection with the Sep 8 attack on Brandon Wright, is the same former London Silverbacks football player who was honoured by the Red Cross for helping the victims of a Jun 21 car accident.

Read the Red Cross account here. Read the London Free Press reports here and here. 

UPDATE - 5:30pm Sep 15 - The London Police Service has issued an arrest warrant for a man in connection with the Sep 8 attack against Brandon Wright.

Alexander Myros, 22, of London, is wanted for aggravated assault, assault with a weapon, forcible confinement and two counts of uttering threats to cause death. Police don't know Myros' location but believe he has fled to Western Canada. Check back here for more information as it becomes available.

UPDATE - 10am Sep 15 - Const Amy Phillipo of The London Police Service tells Xtra that officers responded "at 11:33 am after a 22-year-old male was observed exiting a black pickup truck while the vehicle was in motion."

Phillpo says police are looking for a "male described as being white, 20-26 years, 6ft, blue eyes with a tattoo on one of the lower legs. No clothing description. The vehicle is described as being a black mid-aged model Ford F-150 pickup truck."

Phillipo declined to say if police have any idea who the assailant may be. "The investigation is ongoing," she says.

UPDATE - 10am Sep 15 - Join the facebook group here. Read coverage from London Free Press (LFP) here.

Readers may notice some facts in the LFP piece that conflict with Xtra's account posted yesterday. Xtra followed up with Wright at 9:30am on Sep 15. Wright says Xtra.ca's account is accurate.

"Last night I asked them [LFP] to edit a few things because it's not what I said," says Wright. The attack happened at "noon and not 11:30pm."

Wright says he arranged to meet the man ahead of time via MSN. It was not a random encouter at the variety store as reported by the LFP.

"That was wrong as well, I told them to change that," says Wright.

Wright says he's trying to contact a lawyer.

"The police are trying to brush it off and not make it as severe as it is," he says.


14 SEP, LONDON, ON -- A man says he narrowly escaped with his life after he was lured into a truck and savagely attacked in London Ontario on September 8.

Brandon Wright, an event manager and modelling agent, says a man who called himself Alex approached him online via instant messenger. The man told Wright he was an aspiring model looking for work. Wright arranged to meet Alex around noon near a variety store on Kipps Ln near Adelaide St in London.

After meeting, Wright told the man that he wouldn’t be able to help him find a modelling job.

“He just didn’t have the looks for it,” says Wright.

The man then told Wright that he wanted to show him something in his truck. When Wright climbed into the passenger side he says the man said, “Because you’re gay you need to be punished. I’m going to fucking kill you and you’re a faggot.”

The man then drove off with Wright still in the passenger seat.

“He started hitting me with a big, black, heavy object,” says Wright. “He kept repeating, 'I’m going to fucking kill you faggot.'”

Wright says the attack continued even while the man was driving. Wright jumped out of the moving truck to escape.

“I honestly believed that if I didn’t get out of the vehicle I would have died,” says Wright.

Wright says bystanders came to his aid.

“A group of people attended to me immediately,” he says. “This thug guy came over and took off his shirt. He said, 'Put this on your head.' There were all these people and they were being so kind and calling the ambulance.”

Wright was taken by ambulance to Victoria hospital where he was treated and released. He suffered a dislocated shoulder, deep gashes to his scalp and check, ruptured blood vessels in his left eye and severe bruising on his left side.

Wright says he was interviewed by police for several hours. Xtra contacted the London Police Service, but they did not respond before post time. Check back here for updates.

Wright says London Police investigators led him to believe they may have a suspect.

Wright didn’t get a detailed description of the man who beat him other than to say he is in his 20s, was wearing a hat and driving a black truck at the time of the attack. Wright also says the man mentioned that he is from Thunder Bay.

The attack against Wright comes just four days after a brutal assault on another gay man in Thunder Bay. Jake Raynard suffered 15 fractures to his cheekbone, a broken eye socket, a broken jaw and a broken palate when he was attacked by as many as eight men on Sep 4.

Wright says he just wants the guy who beat him prosecuted.
 
“It has always been a struggle for me being a gay male,” says Wright. “I was used to walking down the street and being called a fag, I didn’t care but the fact that someone had the idea that I had to be punished and they were going to kill me, I do not feel safe at all. I just don’t want it to happen to anyone else. I’m a strong person and I can fight whatever comes my way. I just don’t understand why it happened.”

Anyone with information on the attack against Wright is encouraged to call Crime Stoppers in London at 1-800-222-8477. And contact Xtra here.