Three women punched on Calgary street

A 19-year-old man is in police custody facing three counts of assault for allegedly punching three women on downtown streets Friday morning.

City police spokeswoman Emma Poole said the worst injury was an apparent broken nose sustained by one of the victims, who was knocked to the ground and struck in the face.

"They were all random assaults. None of the victims were known to the suspect," said Poole.

She said the first assault occurred at 7th Avenue and 3rd Street S.W. and the others occurred within a couple of blocks west of there. All appeared to be unprovoked.

Beamer Comfort, an articling student with Bennett Jones law firm in Bankers Hall, said he was walking towards the Calgary Courts Centre to file documents when he witnessed what would have been the last two assaults.

"Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a guy punching a girl in the face," Comfort said. "The C-Train passed and I went to see if she was OK.

"By that time, (the assailant) had crossed the street and punched another lady in the face, so I went to approach him and chased him across the train platform and across the tracks."

Comfort said he and another man caught the suspect. He held the culprit while the other man ran into the courthouse to get the sheriffs, who came out and detained the suspect until police arrived.

During that time, said Comfort, the man repeatedly threatened him: "He kept asking me if I wanted to die for this."

Comfort said the suspect, who is of African descent, told the sheriffs he was a white supremacist.

Kidus Lulu Tekele, 19, has been charged with three counts of common assault.