Son says dad shouldn’t have died in gas and-dash
Tragedy would have been prevented if law was applied sooner, statement says
The son of a gas station owner killed in Thorsby last Friday while trying to prevent a gas-and-dash said the tragedy could have been prevented had the government acted sooner.
Sung Hyun Jo, son of 54-year-old Fas Gas gas station owner Ki Yun Jo, described his father as working alone at his gas station from opening until closing to provide for his wife and two children.
“It is such a tragedy that it should have not happened to a hard-working man who was trying to do everything to survive,” wrote Sung Hyun Jo in an impassioned statement posted Monday.
For years, Sung Hyun Jo said his father had been the victim of repeated gas-and-dashes, where a driver would fill up their tank with gas and speed away without paying.
Such was the case when, on Friday, he tried to stop a stolen white 2006 Ford cube van from driving away without paying for nearly $200 in gas. Ki Yun Jo was run over and killed.
While his family grieves his loss, his son is hoping his death will inspire others to take action to prevent similar tragedies.
“I would only wish the government applied the law sooner so this tragedy would have been prevented,” stated Sung Hyun Jo. “Our family just lost everything, our father and our living. I wish I can blame someone and do everything I can do to bring my father back, but unfortunately it cannot be done.”
Calls came for new legislation to help protect gas station workers from gas-and-dash crimes after Maryam Rashidi, a Calgary gas station attendant, was killed in 2015 when Joshua Cody Mitchell ran her over as he tried to flee without paying for $113 worth of fuel.
Mitchell was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
United Conservative Party interim leader Nathan Cooper questioned why there hasn’t been any action from Alberta’s NDP government.
“Sadly, history has repeated itself, and another grieving family and community are dealing with the consequences of inaction,” said Cooper in a statement shared with reporters Tuesday.
Echoing similar remarks she made Sunday, Labour Minister Christina Gray said the government completed a series of 250 occupational health and safety inspections at Alberta gas stations and consultations with “retailers big and small” in preparation to move forward with “measures” to protect gas station employees this fall.
“We will be taking strong action to prevent these incidents from happening, and I will be bringing those measures forward this fall,” Gray said Tuesday.
Sung Hyun Jo said his father had been unable to afford upgraded pumps that would have made it possible for customers to prepay, or to shut off the pumps once a customer started fuelling, and customers complained of being compelled to prepay inside the store when there was no law requiring it.