Maple Ridge Rocked by Consecutive Tragedies

Four dead in aftermath of a really bad week

Brandon Ferguson, News Editor

 

he small-but-growing town of

| Maple Ridge suffered through

two devastating incidents in the

past two weeks, leaving four people dead

and a city in shock. The first incident, a

multi-car accident, happened around

10pm on Sunday, Feb 27; the second, the

senseless hit-and-run murder of a gas sta-

tion attendant, occurred early on Tuesday,
March 8.

Fast-Car Crash Deaths:

Though there is no evidence to support
the claim at this time, street racing is being
blamed for the deaths of three people in
late February.

On Feb 27, a green Honda del Sol was
traveling east along Lougheed Highway
when the car lost control just past Laity
Street and crossed the centre line into the
path of an oncoming Ford Taurus station
wagon. A silver compact car was traveling
at the same speed as the del Sol and
stopped to survey the carnage before
cementing his or her date with the devil
by leaving the scene.

Dead are Dolly Roy, 45, the driver of
the Taurus, and Terrance Courtice, 23,
and Shaun Turcotte, 22, the passenger and
driver of the del Sol, respectively.

Roy, a well-loved mother of two, was
the innocent victim of a bad accident—
regardless of newsworthy angles, she now
sings with the angels. Also badly injured in
the accident was her passenger, 43-year-
old John Russell of Maple Ridge. One of

4 | www.theotherpress.ca

the first on the scene was former firefight-
er Allan Johannesen, who had never
witnessed an accident of this magnitude
in his life. Though Russell was badly
injured and bleeding profusely, he kept
asking about the condition of Roy, who
was not moving.

“He was heartbroken,” Johannesen
told the Maple Ridge Times. As are Roy’s
two sons, aged 17 and 21. Also heartbro-
ken are the families and friends of all
involved in the accident. It doesn’t matter
whether Turcotte was street racing or not;
it doesn’t mitigate or aggravate the sad-
ness of the loss of three people. By all
accounts of those who knew him,
Turcotte was a good guy. Turcotte’s par-
ents found out about the accident while
on vacation in Mexico.

Whatever is to blame, I cannot say.
Death is death and it’s always unfortunate,
whether it’s newsworthy or not.

Gas-and-Dash Death:
Just over a week after the multi-car acci-
dent in Maple Ridge, an unnecessary act
of heroism was turned into a tragic loss
by some little car-stealing imp, when gas
station attendant Grant de Patie, 24, was
hit and dragged to his death—for 7.5 kilo-
metres—by a 16-year-old punk thief. De
Patie was trying to stop the child from
getting away with $12.30 in gas.

The youth, who can’t be named under
the Young Offender’s Act, was driving a
stolen Chrysler Lebaron with a 15-year-

ie

 

old passenger. The 16 year old was known
to police and has been charged with sec-
ond-degree murder. The 15 year old was
inexplicably released from custody.

As it’s been over a week since the fatal-
ity occurred, I'll spare you the rehashing
of sad events and gory details and let this
kid de Patie rest in peace because he was a
peaceful, joyful, smiling person. The

senselessness of this death is only sur-
passed by the heartlessness of it—7.5
kilometres? You’ve got to be fucking kid-
ding me. At what point does a person’s
lack of conscience and obscene actions
speak so loudly that we, as a society, can
all agree to take this punk out back and
shoot him like Old Yeller? ?m not a con-
setvative by nature, but sometimes I get a
little Texas spur in my saddle.

Last summer I was lucky enough to
work in Maple Ridge and get to know the
town. And it’s only through having spent
time in Maple Ridge and meeting the peo-
ple that I can actually say “lucky” with a
straight face. It’s a small town that is
exploding into more of a cosmopolitan
city—yet it’s a town that still holds doors
open for a lady. Although you see more
strip malls and development there than
you used to, you can still see horses walk-
ing down Dewdney Trunk or have your
eyebrow piercing looked at as a novelty.

It’s a nice town with decent ethics and
good morals, and it’s sad to see tragedies
of this scale in such close proximity to
one another. Though its commonplace in
major city centres these days, and we bare-
ly bat an eye at such everyday tragedy, it’s
important to realize that a small town lost
some really good people in the span of
one week.

 

ae:

Douglas College Elections Are Coming

Warm up for the provincial elections
Brandon Ferguson, News Editor
D running for office and you

have two opportunities to
catch them. There will be all-candidates
meetings in New West concourse on
Wednesday (12:30-1:30pm) and in the
Coquitlam campus’s atrium on Thursday
(12-1pm). Bring tomatoes.

Positions that are up for grabs are
College Relations Coordinator, External
Relations Coordinator, Internal
Relations Coordinator, Treasurer, David
Lam Campus Representative, Member-
at-Large (tee hee), Aboriginal Liaison,

Disabled Students’ Liaison, Pride
Liaison, and Women’s Liaison. A list of

ouglas College students are

a the candidates running will have been

released early this week.

It is important for people to get out
and vote. The current Student Union has
done a bang-up job, but sometimes
change is needed. Or not. Maybe you
want to write a love letter on a ballot to
a certain dreamy Internal Relations
Coordinator, or maybe you need a place
to cram that free Watchtower you got from
the gentleman outside the SkyTrain sta-
tion. Whatever the case, let democracy
run free.

You can vote on both campuses (but
just once) between March 23-28 from
Sam—7pm, and on March 29 from

9Sam—12pm.
we

 

March 16/2005