Transit cops spared jail time for assault
SKYTRAIN STATION: Construction worker launches lawsuit against officers, TransLink
On the same day that two Transit Police officers were sentenced for assaulting a construction worker at a SkyTrain station, The Province has learned that Jordan Dyck is suing them and TransLink for injuries.
Consts. Bruce Shipley and Alfred Wong, who used to work as sheriffs at the provincial jail at 222 Main St., were spared an inside look at the cells when Judge Reg Harris sentenced them each to a conditional discharge for the assault.
That means after completing four months’ probation without committing another crime and finishing 25 hours of community service each, the officers will have the offence cleared from their records and be free to return to policing.
Harris said the 30- to 60-day jail sentence sought by the Crown was disproportionate to the crime, during which the officers struggled to subdue Dyck before pepper-spraying and arresting him.
After the Feb. 9, 2012, assault, the officers had recommended charges of assault, resisting arrest, obstruction and causing a disturbance against Dyck, but those charges were never approved.
Instead, after a probe by an outside police force, Shipley and Wong were accused of tampering with their reports to back up their version of events and charged with fabricating evidence, public mischief and breach of trust.
Harris had earlier dismissed all but the assault charges because the Crown hadn’t proved them “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Harris, an ex-police officer, waived the officers’ $100 victim surcharge, telling them they had suffered financially by losing out on overtime while working paid administrative duty.
Outside the court, the officers, their voices shaking, said they just wanted to get back to their jobs after the 3½-year case.
Outside court, Dyck said he didn’t want the officers to be jailed, but was “just glad they were charged. They picked on me because they thought I was homeless,” because he was wearing his construction work clothes that day. He said he was grateful that the incident was caught on video or he could have ended up with a fine or a criminal record.
Dyck said he was sitting on the steps at the Granville SkyTrain Station playing Pac-Man on his phone while waiting for the 6:30 p.m. cheaper fare to begin when the two plainclothes officers told him someone had complained about him causing a disturbance. He objected and they grabbed him by both arms without first putting him under arrest.
In a “notice of civil claim” filed in B.C. Supreme Court, Dyck said he suffered “musculoligamentous (back) injuries, injury to the face due to pepper-spray, injury to the hand (and) psychological injuries.”
The writ said the injuries have “caused and continue to cause (Dyck) pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life and permanent physical disability” that affects his ability to earn income and to do household duties and yardwork. He’s seeking unspecified damages for loss of past and future income and health-care costs and other damages.
The writ says Shipley and Wong “wilfully and intentionally assaulted the plaintiff without provocation,” and the assault was “deliberate and reckless.”
None of those claims have been proved in court.
In response, TransLink and the officers “deny (Dyck) was assaulted as alleged or at all (and) … say (Dyck) did not suffer any injury, loss, damage or expense as alleged or at all” and demanded “strict proof.”