A man boarded an Edmonton Transit System bus without having enough
money to make fare. Because the driver insisted on him paying the fare
if he wanted to stay on the bus, the man got into an argument with the
driver. Bus’ security camera recoded the confrontation in which the
passenger is seen acting agitated and pointing at the driver.
Eventually, the young man punched the driver, then dragged him out of
the bus where he savagely head stomped him several times.
The attack took place in North Edmonton. The attacker boarded the bus
near 139 Avenue and Victoria Trail. The driver, whose name is Tom Bregg
needed an emergency tracheotomy to open his airway and had to undergo
extensive facial reconstruction surgery. They say he’ll never pass
through airport security without making the metal detector go haywire.
It took a lot of metal to patch his face back together. Worse yet, the
iris in his left eye was torn so badly, it had to be removed, leaving
the man blind in one eye. Tom Bregg also suffered permanent brain damage
that left him with memory problems and disorientation. He had to spend
eight weeks in hospital. He was a bus driver for 33 years. The attack
cost him his livelihood.
The attacker – 24 year old Gary Edwin Mattson stomped on the driver
with full force at least 14 times. He was arrested a short while later
with blood still on his shoes. Alberta crown prosecutor Patricia Innes
called him a “danger to society”. Likewise, Alberta court judge Harry
Bridges described the beating as “savage, brutal and senseless”,
labelled Gary Mattson a “dangerous offender” and jailed him
indefinitely. That means he will stay behind bars until he’s no longer
deemed a risk. Unfortunately, that decision is made by “experts”.
Gary Mattson pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and to assault of
police officer on whom he spat during the arrest. His criminal record
contains six other assault convictions and various drug and alcohol
abuse offenses. Historically, assault convicts are not handed down jail
sentences longer than 90 days in Alberta, so the judge did outdo himself
standing on the side of the public, not the criminal with this one.
This Gary Mattson clearly likes to attack innocent people and beat them
to a pulp. And previous sentences did nothing to deter him from doing it
again. Keeping him locked up indefinitely seems like the only way to go
– for as long as he doesn’t get released too soon.