CALGARY -- A Calgary senior says he was in bed asleep shortly after 7 a.m. last Friday morning when his landlord punched a hole in the door and began assaulting him.
Zibi Piesiac is 69 years old and recently retired. He worked as a stone mason and sometimes figure skating coach after moving to Canada from his native Poland in 1987.
Times have been tough on a limited income, and he says for the past four years he has been renting the single room in an unfinished basement for $500 a month.
“He punch my door, make hole, open inside my bedroom door and try. . .(to) beat me. (He) is (a) big guy,” says Piesiac.
“(He) smashed my TV. (It's) completely broken. Again I’m going out and the guy (is) talking (to me), (saying to) me ‘No more living (here)! (Get) out!’”
Police say officers are actively investigating the alleged assault but have not yet filed charges.
Piesiac is staying with a neighbourhood friend who says she was heartbroken by the change that came over the usually happy and lively man.
“He was very shaken,” says Kamilla Prasad, who co-incidentally also works in elder abuse prevention. “His hands were shaking. He couldn’t put sentences together.”
Piesiac says he is hoping he can qualify for housing assistance and to find a safe place he can call home.
