An off-duty police officer charged with a long list of drinking and driving offences won’t be receiving a paycheque any longer, after being slapped with an additional charge for improper storage of a firearm at his home.
The decision is too little, too late, says Theresa Offermann, who has been petitioning to get Const. Douglas Kurtis Brown off the payroll since the accident landed her neighbour Robert Wasyliw in the hospital with severe burns a few weeks ago.
“Chief Boyd said that they’ve cut his pay because of additional charges? Those charges have nothing to do with the impaired,” she said yesterday.
In the early morning hours of May 11, the BMW that Brown was driving blew through a red light, slamming into a pickup truck. Within seconds, the truck burst into flames, trapping the 18-year-old driver inside.
Brown was slapped with 11 impaired driving charges as a result of the incident, though still received pay.
The additional charge Brown now faces is the result of an on-going investigation conducted after the accident.
Since the accident, Offermann and a group of petitioners have been canvassing the streets of Edmonton, and have collected over 1,500 signatures, in hopes of changing repercussions when officers get charged with impaired driving.
“I’m a citizen that pays taxes and doesn’t want to pay for him to be on a vacation,” she said. “As citizens, we have one guideline to follow. Officers make their own standard to follow, and decide to change it and break it whenever they want without repercussions.”
Boyd said yesterday, that his decision to suspend Brown without pay was in no way related to the petition.
“I recognize that the individuals that started the petition feel strongly about the alleged actions of constable Brown, however, I did not allow that to influence my decision making in any way.”
victoria.handysides@metronews.ca
