Osoyoos’s Dave Loeppky sits inside the Breeze Cold Beer and Wine Store, in Osoyoos, near the place he was sitting on May 28, 2005 when he was randomly targeted by UN Gang leader Doug Vanalstine. He was shot in the foot and leg and continues to suffer repercussions from the injuries. Photo by Laurena Weninger - Click on picture for larger image
OSOYOOS TIMES-December 9, 2009
By Laurena Weninger – Osoyoos Times
Recent news of the arrest of UN Gang leader Douglas Vanalstine brought back a few painful memories for Osoyoos resident Dave Loeppky, who won a $314,000 civil settlement against 49-year-old Vanalstine in September.
“He shot me twice. Once in the left foot, once in the right leg,” said 53-year-old Loeppky, while sitting on a rail just outside the Breeze Cold Beer and Wine Store last week.
It’s the same place he was sitting on May 28, 2005, chatting with a buddy, when a big, white Ford Expedition pulled up, music blaring.
It was approximately 8:30 at night, Loeppky said, explaining his friend went to tell the people in the Expedition to turn the music down.
According to the affidavit filed by Loeppky in the B.C. Supreme Court, that’s when Vanalstine – who was unknown to both the victims – got out of the vehicle and came toward Loeppky.
“I saw he had a gun in his hand just as he raised his arm and shot me in the left foot. I yelled, ‘You shot me in the foot,’ and then he raised the gun a bit higher and shot me in the right leg,” stated Loeppky’s affidavit. “He then said, ‘Now I’ve shot you twice.’”
According to the civil court documents, Loeppky’s foot was left with a two-centimetre by two-centimetre hole, with a one-centimetre chunk of bone shot out.
He still has the scars – and a whole lot more – to remind him of the day.
Prior to the shooting, Loeppky was capable of working 45 to 50 hours a week and took part in activities like golf, walks and slo-pitch softball, state the documents.
He was off work for three-and-a-half months after the shooting and said he still feels a lot of pain as a result.
But while he still works as a journeyman refrigeration mechanic for Border Plumbing and Heating, he can’t do as many hours as he once did.
He will always have stiffness, arthritis and will need special footwear, stated the court documents.
He was awarded $314,000 in the civil suit, but criminal charges against Vanalstine, which included aggravated assault and unauthorized possession of a firearm, were stayed.
“It didn’t meet the evidence threshold for Crown,” said Osoyoos RCMP spokesman Cpl. Jason Bayda. “We just didn’t have enough information to proceed.”
After he was shot, Loeppky handed his cellphone to his friend who called 911 with the licence plate number of Vanalstine’s vehicle.
According to Bayda, Crown prosecutors likely decided the charges against Vanalstine couldn’t be proven beyond a reasonable doubt and that’s probably why the charges were dropped.
But winning in civil court is different.
“Civil is much, much easier to prove than criminal,” Bayda said, explaining that while a civil award can be tough, a criminal conviction is more serious and can include prison time. “The threshold is much higher.”
According to a media release on Nov. 30 from the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit B.C., Vanalstine was arrested and charged with conspiracy to traffic in a controlled substance and possession for the purpose of trafficking.
Vanalstine is referred to as the “current head of the UN Gang” in the release and the arrest and charges were the culmination of an eight-month undercover operation targeting the UN Gang and the Bacon Group in the Lower Mainland, though Vanalstine allegedly lives in Kelowna.
The investigation unearthed an alleged conspiracy to import over 100 kilograms of cocaine from Mexico to Canada, states the release, and the two groups are being focused on as part of an initiative to target the most visible and violent organized crime groups in the Lower Mainland.
Loeppky is glad to hear of Vanalstine’s arrest, but he is annoyed that what happened to him was just swept under the rug.
“It kind of pisses me off.”
So far, Loeppky hasn’t seen any of the money Vanalstine now owes him.
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