Man given probation and fine for LRT station assault

A 20-year-old Edmonton man who took part in a group assault on a man thrown onto the tracks at the Churchill LRT Station was fined $1,000 and given a year of probation Thursday.

Wesley Wayne Osecap pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm and admitted he’d repeatedly punched the victim as he tried to climb back onto the platform.

“This was gratuitous, random violence in a public place,” provincial court Judge Susan Richardson said. “We should be able to go about our business on a transit system without fear of attack.”

According to an agreed statement of facts, victim Gary Hopp uttered a racial insult to Osecap and two other aboriginal men in the Churchill LRT Station on the night of Nov. 10, 2012. The others, Irwin Keshane and Dean Rain, followed Hopp down an escalator and onto the platform. A fight broke out, and Hopp was tossed onto the LRT tracks.

Security cameras showed Hopp being punched and kicked by the two men.

Osecap then came down to the platform and prevented Hopp from climbing back onto the platform by punching him in the face several times, Richardson said. Surveillance showed that fellow passengers blocked Keshane and Osecap’s path so that Hopp could escape the tracks.

Osecap, who was intoxicated, then punched Hopp again when he had made it onto the platform.

Hopp suffered a broken thumb, a laceration to his cheek and various scrapes.

No train came through the station during the assault.

In addition to the oneyear probation and $1,000 fine, Osecap must complete 50 hours of community service.

Keshane and Rain both earlier pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm. Both received nine-month sentences. Richardson told court that Osecap didn’t deserve the same jail sentence because he lacked the violent criminal record of the other twomen. At the time, Osecap had no criminal record.