Pubdate: Mon, 12 Sep 2005
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005 Times Colonist
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/victoria/timescolonist/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481
Author: Malcolm Curtis

DRUGS, CRIME RISING, RESIDENTS SAY

The shooting of a man in Esquimalt on the weekend was the talk of the 
neighbourhood, where residents say drug use and petty crime has been on the 
increase in the past few years.

Many residents believed the man police shot was high on drugs.

"It's getting worse around here," said Donald MacDonald, former manager of 
the Glenn Acres apartment building at 1023 Esquimalt Rd., where he has 
lived for 13 years.

MacDonald said many tenants have been evicted from his apartment building 
because of drug-related problems.

Several residents said they had heard that a man had demanded "curly fries" 
in the fast food restaurant and reacted badly when they weren't available.

"I heard he really went nuts in there," said John Perry, who was sitting 
outside McDonald's on Sunday afternoon.

Perry, an eight-year resident, said he doesn't go out at night along one 
stretch of Esquimalt Road because of the drug scene. "There's some really 
bad people."

The restaurant manager, Nicole, who wouldn't give her last name, declined 
to comment.

"From our perspective we are fully co-operating with police authorities," 
said Chris Stannell, a spokesman for McDonald's Canada.

Stannell confirmed that McDonald's does not serve "curly fries" but he 
referred further questions to police.

Lauren Mason, a clerk at the Canadian Liquor Cabinet store in the nearby 
Esquimalt Shopping Plaza, said the shooting was all customers were talking 
about Sunday.

"Many of them were sure he was on drugs," she said, saying there were 
reports of the man "swearing and screaming and carrying on."

This is the third time Victoria police have shot at a suspect in the past 
five years.

The last recorded incident occurred March 6, 2002, when Const. Ken 
Fetherston shot and wounded a 27-year-old man who was a passenger in a car 
being driven erratically by another man.

Fetherston reportedly shot at the vehicle when it reversed at full speed 
toward the officer, who was standing outside his patrol car, in the 
Fernwood area. The wounded man was taken to Victoria General Hospital where 
bullet fragments were removed from his cheek and neck.

On Jan. 9, 2000, constables Colin Brown and Steve Kowan shot at a stolen 
pickup truck as it was driven toward them in a James Bay church parking lot.

The man behind the wheel, Michael Andrew O'Neill, was sentenced to two 
years less a day in jail after pleading guilty to assault with a weapon -- 
his vehicle.

The incident was part of a foiled robbery of the Cook Street Royal Bank 
involving Stephen Reid, a well-known writer and member of the Stopwatch 
Gang, a group known for its daring robberies in the 1970s. Reid is serving 
an 18-year prison sentence for his role in the armed robbery.

When a shot is fired during the arrest of a suspect, the Police Act 
requires a separate review from the investigation of the case.
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