A man with over two decades of criminal history has been accused of stabbing an Abbotsford business owner during an alleged theft attempt on Saturday (Aug. 9) morning at 9:42 a.m.
Forty-year-old Timothy Rowley, who was out on statutory release from another offence at the time of this stabbing, reportedly got into an altercation with the business owner of Ellwood Laundromat (31205 MacLure Rd.) and the victim was forced to go to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
According to police, Rowley was attempting to rob from the business and he fled the scene on foot prior to police arrival.
"Officers quickly established containment in the area and, within minutes, tracked the suspect to the backyard of a nearby residence," police said.
Seven minutes later, at 9:49 a.m., officers arrested Rowley and he remains in police custody. According to media reports, he appeared before a Justice of the Peace on Sunday (Aug. 10) and will remain in police custody ahead of an Aug. 14 court appearance in Abbotsford.
The investigation is ongoing and cops are still looking for anyone who was in the area between 9:15 a.m. and 10 a.m. Anyone who witnessed the incident or has dashcam footage is asked to contact the Abbotsford Police Department at 604-859-5225.
Rowley's extensive criminal history began in 2004 when he was charged with assault against a peace officer in Abbotsford. He had probation breaches later that year and in 2007. Rowley was then charged with assault in Blue River in 2014 and again breached his probation later that year.
He continued to breach probation for the next few years and then plead guilty to unnecessary pain and suffering to an animal when he killed a goose with a stick at Vancouver's Stanley Park in 2018. He served 72 days in jail for that incident.
Rowley then pleaded guilty to break and enter and aggravated assault charges in relation to a May 26, 2019 stabbing in Maple Ridge. He was also pleaded guilty to assault with a weapon for a separate incident in Maple Ridge on the same day in 2019.
He has appeared in provincial court in Abbotsford, Kamloops, Port Coquitlam, Surrey and Vancouver while facing his litany of charges over the years.
