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VOL. 27 NO. 23
www.terracestandard.com
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Cop refutes civil claims By MARGARET SPEIRS A FORMER Terrace RCMP officer named in a civil suit of a man whose wife says his brain injury was caused by the police officer has filed his reply. Const. Brian Heideman filed the response in Vancouver supreme civil court in response to a suit filed by Heather Prisk concerning her husband Robert Wright. She’s saying an incident involving Heideman two years ago resulted in brain damage to her hus-
band to the point he now requires constant care. A trial date has been set for February, 2016. Heideman has denied virtually all of the allegations in the Prisk suit except one paragraph in which he agrees he was a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Outside of his knowledge, added Heideman, was the alleged fact that “the plaintiff, Robert Wright, is now [a] disabled first nation construction worker....” Heideman has denied the rest
of the information contained in the Prisk suit in which it outlines allegations concerning the incident in which Wright was first injured and the aftermath. In the statement of facts on the civil claim, filed by Prisk on behalf of her husband, it says Wright was pulled over in a police traffic stop at or near the 4400 block of Legion Ave., April 21, 2012. Constables Carl Hufnagel and James Lauriault handcuffed Wright and took him into police custody to the holding cells at the Terrace de-
tachment, read the Prisk statement. The two officers plus Heideman took Wright into a cell, where he was told to kneel on a concrete bench above the floor and, while kneeling on the bench in an uncomfortable position, Wright tried to reposition his legs at which point Heideman “violently, unexpectedly and negligently threw the plaintiff (Wright) to the ground, causing the plaintiff's head to sustain injuries, the most significant of which was a traumatic brain injury and thereafter dragging the
plaintiff across the cell floor while unconscious and kneeling on his backside,” read the Prisk statement. “The incident resulted in the plaintiff being assaulted, battered and/or negligently injured by the defendant Heideman who used excessive and negligent amounts of force when dealing with the plaintiff....,” continued the statement, which also details Wright’s injuries and ask for financial damages.
Cont’d Page A15
Students back in the classroom By ANNA KILLEN
TERRACE TEACHERS worked long hours over the weekend to ready classrooms for students who finally took to their desks Monday, three weeks into the scheduled school year. After a bitter months-long battle, a new six-year collective agreement was hashed out between the province and its teachers' union thanks to the help of mediator Vince Ready early last week. B.C. teachers voted 86 per cent in favour of the contract Sept. 18 and school boards voted unanimously to ratify it Friday, allowing for a Monday start to the school year. The agreement gives teachers a 7.25 per cent raise over six years, a $105 million fund to cover retroactive grievances, and $400 million to go towards hiring new teachers and specialists. The government also withdrew the controversial Article E80, which the union says was an attempt by the government to bargain around earlier Supreme Court decisions that reinforced teachers’ rights to bargain class size and composition issues. Coast Mountains School District (CMSD) board chair Art Erasmus said he is “totally pleased” that school was able to start this week, adding that frustrations were mounting across the district as the school year entered its third week without classes. “And then all of the sudden the clouds raised and everything got done and there was a tentative agreement. It was highly unpredictable as to when that would happen. People were getting pretty frustrated,” he said.
MARGARET SPEIRS PHOTO
■■ Swap it out DENNIS AND Fern Beaudette inside the new Swap Shed at the city landfill Sept. 12. Items are brought in and swapped for things people need or people can come and take what they need or drop off something they don’t need. For more on the shed’s conception, see Page A10.
Cont’d Page A4
Run, Terry, Run
Vivid memories
Sporty seniors
The 34th annual Terry Fox Run breaks records for money, participants \COMMUNITY A10
A woman who lost her husband while mushroom picking shares her story \NEWS A5
The northwest sees a strong finish at this year’s BC Seniors’ Games \SPORTS A27