CUG
09-23-2009, 10:05 AM
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/story.html?id=2023640
A Calgary man says he's struggling to understand why a group of brazen thugs doused his 32-year-old son with paint thinner and set him on fire outside his Winnipeg home early on Tuesday -- less than a week after he himself was swarmed and beaten there in the same neighbourhood.
"If they had thrown any more liquid on him, he would be dead by now," Ralph Sanderson said from a hotel room he was sharing with his son, Derek, who is recovering from second-and third-degree burns.
Emergency crews were called to a home in the trendy southwest neighbourhood of Wolseley around 4:30 a. m.
Mr. Sanderson said his son called 911 after hearing noises in his backyard.
The operator allegedly told him to go outside and check it out himself. When he did, a group of three men, dressed in black and between the ages of 18 to 25, threw paint thinner on him and set him ablaze, Mr. Sanderson said.
"[The 911 operator] told him to go outside and take a look and see what they were doing," he said. "That was probably the dumbest thing to do."
Winnipeg's emergency dispatchers dispute that charge, and Mayor Sam Katz said yesterday he personally listened to a recording of the call, and the man had not been asked to go outside.
"I can tell you categorically that did not happen," the mayor said.
A police spokesman said a review was done of the dispatched call and the matter was handled "appropriately."
Mr. Sanderson said the group had broken into his son's car and had at least three containers of paint thinner with them.
"We were thinking the reason they brought them originally was that they were going to burn his house down," he said.
Both Mr. Sanderson and his son believe the group responsible for this attack was also involved in an altercation with the two Sandersons last Wednesday.
Mr Sanderson said that, on Sept. 16, he and his son were confronted by a group of four men in an alleyway by his son's home. When they told the group to leave, he said, they pulled out knives and repeatedly hit the elder Sanderson in the face with an 8-ball held inside a sock.
He was taken to hospital and had to get four stitches. To make matters worse, he said, when the two returned from hospital, they discovered that their truck had been stolen by teenagers.
Mr. Sanderson said the truck eventually took police on a high-speed chase and ended up ramming into a cruiser. The three accused teens face a total of 17 charges. A box of black-and-white family photographs that had been in the truck was never recovered.
Winnipeg police said yesterday the investigation into the torching attack was continuing.
"[It's] kind of a horrific event for anyone to hear about. I can't imagine," said Winnipeg Constable Jason Michalyshyn. "There is no question. This is a very unfortunate circumstance."
Canwest News Service, with files from Global Winnipeg
Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/story.html?id=2023640#ixzz0RwjmPqPj
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Wow.
A Calgary man says he's struggling to understand why a group of brazen thugs doused his 32-year-old son with paint thinner and set him on fire outside his Winnipeg home early on Tuesday -- less than a week after he himself was swarmed and beaten there in the same neighbourhood.
"If they had thrown any more liquid on him, he would be dead by now," Ralph Sanderson said from a hotel room he was sharing with his son, Derek, who is recovering from second-and third-degree burns.
Emergency crews were called to a home in the trendy southwest neighbourhood of Wolseley around 4:30 a. m.
Mr. Sanderson said his son called 911 after hearing noises in his backyard.
The operator allegedly told him to go outside and check it out himself. When he did, a group of three men, dressed in black and between the ages of 18 to 25, threw paint thinner on him and set him ablaze, Mr. Sanderson said.
"[The 911 operator] told him to go outside and take a look and see what they were doing," he said. "That was probably the dumbest thing to do."
Winnipeg's emergency dispatchers dispute that charge, and Mayor Sam Katz said yesterday he personally listened to a recording of the call, and the man had not been asked to go outside.
"I can tell you categorically that did not happen," the mayor said.
A police spokesman said a review was done of the dispatched call and the matter was handled "appropriately."
Mr. Sanderson said the group had broken into his son's car and had at least three containers of paint thinner with them.
"We were thinking the reason they brought them originally was that they were going to burn his house down," he said.
Both Mr. Sanderson and his son believe the group responsible for this attack was also involved in an altercation with the two Sandersons last Wednesday.
Mr Sanderson said that, on Sept. 16, he and his son were confronted by a group of four men in an alleyway by his son's home. When they told the group to leave, he said, they pulled out knives and repeatedly hit the elder Sanderson in the face with an 8-ball held inside a sock.
He was taken to hospital and had to get four stitches. To make matters worse, he said, when the two returned from hospital, they discovered that their truck had been stolen by teenagers.
Mr. Sanderson said the truck eventually took police on a high-speed chase and ended up ramming into a cruiser. The three accused teens face a total of 17 charges. A box of black-and-white family photographs that had been in the truck was never recovered.
Winnipeg police said yesterday the investigation into the torching attack was continuing.
"[It's] kind of a horrific event for anyone to hear about. I can't imagine," said Winnipeg Constable Jason Michalyshyn. "There is no question. This is a very unfortunate circumstance."
Canwest News Service, with files from Global Winnipeg
Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/story.html?id=2023640#ixzz0RwjmPqPj
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Wow.