{"id":160153,"date":"2025-11-18T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T20:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2025\/11\/18\/alleged-okanagan-arsonist-found-guilty-of-assault-witness-intimidation\/"},"modified":"2025-11-18T12:30:00","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T20:30:00","slug":"alleged-okanagan-arsonist-found-guilty-of-assault-witness-intimidation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2025\/11\/18\/alleged-okanagan-arsonist-found-guilty-of-assault-witness-intimidation\/","title":{"rendered":"Alleged Okanagan arsonist found guilty of assault, witness intimidation"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Penticton man was found guilty of threatening and kicking in the face of a witness set to testify against him over the alleged arson of the city’s Toyota dealership in 2022, according to a recently published Supreme Court of B.C. judgment.<\/p>\n

The arson case against Donald Richard Lorenzetto is set to have its own trial starting Dec. 9.<\/p>\n

The judgment, published on Nov. 12, is the transcript of Justice E. McDonald’s oral decision from the conclusion of the three-day trial over Oct. 28 to 30, 2025.<\/p>\n

Lorenzetto was found guilty of aggravated assault on May 16, 2023, and guilty of the intimidation of a participant in the justice system that began the day after the 2022 fire to 2024, involving repeated threats against Jordan Wall and his family over speaking to the police.<\/p>\n

Both Wall and Lorenzetto were described as having known each other for years, as they lived on the streets, and had been one-time friends.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: 2 arrested in Penticton after Toyota dealership fire deemed arson<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE: Accused Penticton Toyota arsonist also charged with intimidating justice system<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

After being picked up by the police during the investigation into the 2022 fire that destroyed the Toyota dealership, that relationship vanished.<\/p>\n

“Mr. Wall said that after they were released from custody, the accused told him numerous times that he better not talk to the police, go to court or rat on him,” said Justice McDonald. “Mr. Wall said that on numerous occasions afterwards he was threatened by the accused and the accused’s friend, “Bullet”. When asked what words the accused used, Mr. Wall testified that he told him not to talk about the arson and not to say anything. Mr. Wall also said that the accused and Bullet told Mr. Wall that if he said anything about the arson incident, Mr. Wall and his family members would get hurt and be put in danger.”<\/p>\n

The threats were made constantly, both against him personally and against his family, who also live in Penticton, and the witness believed that Lorenzetto had connections throughout the city with other people.<\/p>\n

On the day of the assault, the witness had gone into the alley behind a liquor store with some friends and was planning to roll up some marijuana he had just purchased.<\/p>\n

While trying to keep an eye on Lorenzetto while still rolling his joint, the witness stated that he had lost sight of Lorenzetto briefly, and that when he looked up, the man was walking up to him and kicking him in the face.<\/p>\n

The injury required reconstructive surgery to keep the witness’ face from being permanently caved in, and multiple plates and screws were required to fix the fractures to his cheek and around his eye. The injury left the witness with a significant and permanent scar.<\/p>\n

Justice McDonald found that despite Wall’s admitted history of substance use, his testimony was coherent, consistent and believable.<\/p>\n

“In cross-examination, Mr. Wall was also asked when the last time he used illicit drugs, and he answered, ‘Three to four days ago.’ When asked what drugs he was using in May 2023, Mr. Wall said he did not know and he was not using very much because he was mostly smoking marijuana,” reads the judgment. “He said that around the time of the assault, he was being threatened a lot, and he was trying to keep safe and be aware of his surroundings. He agreed that the use of drugs affected his memory a little bit, but not totally, because he could remember dates and when things had happened. He also said he avoided using drugs to the point that he became totally unaware or unconscious. I found that he provided a reasonable explanation for the state of his memory.”<\/p>\n

The Justice also noted that from the testimony of the outreach worker who had interacted with the witness that day, including following the assault with the visible cut to the face, that he was high but still coherent and responsive to the point of carrying on a conversation.<\/p>\n

Despite Wall’s claim that he had only been using marijuana and the lack of any direct witnesses to the assault, Justice McDonald found that the totality of the testimony was persuasive and did not leave room for reasonable doubt in the case.<\/p>\n

Sentencing will come at a later, currently unspecified date.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The trial for the 2022 Penticton Toyota dealership fire begins in December <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":160154,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-160153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-regional-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAlleged Okanagan arsonist found guilty of assault, witness intimidation - The Interior News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2025\/11\/18\/alleged-okanagan-arsonist-found-guilty-of-assault-witness-intimidation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alleged Okanagan arsonist found guilty of assault, witness intimidation - The Interior News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The trial for the 2022 Penticton Toyota dealership fire begins in December\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2025\/11\/18\/alleged-okanagan-arsonist-found-guilty-of-assault-witness-intimidation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Interior News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-18T20:30:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brennan Phillips\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brennan Phillips\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2025\/11\/18\/alleged-okanagan-arsonist-found-guilty-of-assault-witness-intimidation\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2025\/11\/18\/alleged-okanagan-arsonist-found-guilty-of-assault-witness-intimidation\/\",\"name\":\"Alleged Okanagan arsonist found guilty of assault, witness intimidation - The Interior News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2025\/11\/18\/alleged-okanagan-arsonist-found-guilty-of-assault-witness-intimidation\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2025\/11\/18\/alleged-okanagan-arsonist-found-guilty-of-assault-witness-intimidation\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2025\/11\/40894745_web1_230802-PWN-Meta_2.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-18T20:30:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/#\/schema\/person\/77d8dc7cd3c54d574e571556cf5af775\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2025\/11\/18\/alleged-okanagan-arsonist-found-guilty-of-assault-witness-intimidation\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2025\/11\/18\/alleged-okanagan-arsonist-found-guilty-of-assault-witness-intimidation\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/2025\/11\/18\/alleged-okanagan-arsonist-found-guilty-of-assault-witness-intimidation\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2025\/11\/40894745_web1_230802-PWN-Meta_2.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/interior-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2025\/11\/40894745_web1_230802-PWN-Meta_2.jpeg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"In May 2023, Penticton RCMP had charges approved against a local man for the arson that destroyed the Penticton Toyota in 2022. 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