[DIV id=headline][H2]'I don't beat women up,' officer tells trial[/H2][/DIV][DIV id=author][P class=byline]SHANNON KARI
[/DIV][DIV id=article style="FONT-SIZE: 100%"][!-- Summary --][!-- dateline --]VANCOUVER[!-- /dateline --] -- A Vancouver transit officer denied assaulting a young teacher outside a downtown SkyTrain station and insisted he was trying to protect the woman from "cracking her melon" on the pavement.
[!-- /Summary --]"I did not put her on the ground. It is not my style," Walter Rossa testified in B.C. Supreme Court yesterday. "I don't beat women up."
Mr. Rossa and his fellow TransLink constable, Ken Dorby, have been sued by Christy Logeman, a former special-education teacher, who is alleging she was beaten and then falsely arrested and imprisoned on Nov. 16, 2002. TransLink and the Ministry of the Attorney-General are also defendants in the civil suit.
Ms. Logeman suffered a broken bone near her left eye that she alleges was caused by Mr. Rossa striking her with his flashlight.
[DIV class="bigbox ad" id=boxR][SCRIPT type=text/XXXXscript ads="1"]aPs="boxR";[/SCRIPT][SCRIPT type=text/XXXXscript]var boxRAC = fnTdo('a'+'ai',300,250,ai,'j',nc);[/SCRIPT][/DIV]The eight-person jury has heard that Ms. Logeman, 30, and her ex-boyfriend had a dispute the night of the incident, outside the Stadium SkyTrain station. Ms. Logeman had a no-contact order against Steven Fox, who had a prior conviction for assaulting his ex-girlfriend.
Ms. Logeman said that when she told Mr. Fox he could not come home with her, he stole her wallet and ran toward the station.
Mr. Rossa testified that he believed he was called to deal with "some kind of domestic" situation. Mr. Fox informed the officer of the no-contact order when the two men spoke across the street from the station. Mr. Rossa confirmed the information with a call to police, but said Mr. Fox appeared calm, so he let him go.
"You never tried to protect Ms. Logeman from Mr. Fox, did you?" asked Ms. Logeman's co-counsel, Michael Mines.
"I had no enforcement powers," Mr. Rossa responded. He explained that, as a special constable, he was able to enforce the Criminal Code on SkyTrain property, but not any court orders, such as a breach of a condition of bail. "Someone could be on a Canada-wide warrant and there was nothing I could do."
(TransLink constables, including Mr. Rossa, were granted increased powers in December, including the right to carry firearms.)
Mr. Rossa said he did not have any dealings with Ms. Logeman until he walked toward the station to speak to his colleague.
The transit officer said he observed the woman suddenly start to swing her shopping bag.
Ms. Logeman testified that she swung the bag once out of frustration, at Mr. Fox, who had not gone home as instructed.
"I didn't know Mr. Fox was there," replied Mr. Rossa, when asked why he didn't try to intervene.
The former RCMP officer said "everything happened so fast," and he portrayed Ms. Logeman as a "wild woman" who managed to punch her ex-boyfriend twice. She then turned around, saw Mr. Rossa and "that is when she started to reload on me," landing two punches and three hard kicks to his face."
Despite her conduct, Mr. Rossa maintained he was concerned for the woman when he tried to hold her up and she either tried to break away or slipped back. "It was pavement, she could be cracking her melon," he said.
The TransLink officer had photographs taken at the city jail that evening and he admitted they did not reveal any injuries to his face. He testified that his wife saw some "red marks" the next day and his jaw felt sore.
Mr. Rossa said he might have had a flashlight with him that night, but if he did, it was the much smaller "mini-mag" and not the "stinger" model used by some TransLink officers.
The defence resumes its case today and closing arguments are expected to begin early next week.
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