(This column was published in the North Shore News on Aug. 18, 2004)
Berg started the fatal fight with a VDP cop
By Leo Knight
THE coroner’s jury looking into the death of Jeff Berg after he was arrested by Vancouver Police Constable David Bruce-Thomas returned a verdict of “homicide” last week. As it should have.
But despite the claims of victory from Berg’s sister Julie, there was no other verdict which could have been determined. But, let’s be clear, the determination attaches no blame to anyone. It merely finds that the death of Jeff Berg came at the hands of another. In this case, a police officer responding to a vicious Home Invasion call.
The media, by and large, has not done a very good job of covering this case. Even in the CBC story on the day after the jury verdict, they incorrectly identified the original call as a marijuana “grow rip.” It was nothing of the sort.
It was a vicious and brutal home invasion robbery of an immigrant family with kids in the house.
Such has the distortions and lack of investigative work done by the media at large in this city been, that Chief Constable Jaime Graham authorized a startling media release on Friday.
The release deals with the inaccurate – dare I say wrong? – reporting on the event head on. “Many versions of this incident have been reported in the media, including a newspaper editorial that reported the death arose from a ‘traffic stop.’ This was not a traffic stop, nor was it, as some have reported, a ‘grow rip.’ This was a terrifying, violent and very dangerous home invasion,” states the press release.
The event occurred in October of 2000 when a group of armed and masked men smashed their way into a home. Dad, Mom, a daughter 12, Grandparents and a baby boy were home at the time.
The first 9-1-1 call was from Dad who had fled to a neighbour’s house to call the police. He was absolutely hysterical as he screamed for help. He actually ran back into the house to try and protect his family knowing the bad guys were still there.
A second 9-1-1 call was received from the daughter who had also managed to escape to a neighbour.
Constable David Bruce-Thomas, a dog handler was in the vicinity and he located the suspects in the back alley attempting to flee. He managed to block their car, forcing it into a garage. Unfortunately for him, the collision had jammed the door and his canine partner was locked in. With the nearest backup several minutes away at least, he tried to take the thugs into custody entirely on his own.
Three of the bad guys seemed to understand that when a police officer is pointing a gun at you, commons sense says, “Do what you are told.”
Well not so with the apple of Julie Berg’s eye. The much larger Jeff Berg attacked Bruce-Thomas and the fight was on.
With assisting officers now screaming Code 3 to help out their beleaguered colleague, Bruce-Thomas kicked, punched and hammered at Berg in the fight.
Bottom line is, Berg chose wrong in every sense. He started the fight, and as I have explained in the past, sometimes a cop’s very life depends on their ability to finish the fight. So it was in this case.
That Berg died in the event is tragic for everyone affected by this. But, remember it was his choice to be involved in a home invasion and it was his choice to attack the police officer. And, ultimately, in his recklessness, it was his own fault that he died.
The media have somehow glossed over all of this in their apparent zeal to crucify the Vancouver Police Department. It’s remarkable that Chief Graham has seen fit to set the record straight. He even authorized the release of the 9-1-1 and radio transmission recordings from that night to help the public understand what really happened.
In my view, if the VPD and the RCMP did this more often, it would likely blunt much of the ill-informed criticism the police seem to endure on an all-to regular basis.
I’ll leave the final word on this to the VPD Chief: “Constable Bruce-Thomas showed courage and quick thinking to use his vehicle to prevent the escape of the four suspects. He placed his own personal safety at risk to protect the community.”
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