Policeman charged in children's hockey fracas
helen_highwater
Thursday, March 15, 2001
A suspended Winnipeg police constable faces a criminal charge for allegedly
threatening a rival parent during a hockey game played by nine-year-old
boys.
Grant "Butch" Eakin, 41, was arrested yesterday morning and charged with
uttering threats to cause bodily harm. Mr. Eakin is serving a suspension
with pay from the Winnipeg police department for an assault conviction last
year.
During Saturday's incident at Winnipeg's Allard Arena, the Fort Garry
Blackhawks were playing against Notre Dame in an important playoff game in
the city's novice division. Mr. Eakin's son, Cody, is a star player on the
Fort Garry team.
Witnesses say sometime near the end of the game, two women from the Notre
Dame team taunted Mr. Eakin. The rival fans were poking Mr. Eakin in the
back, asking him what he thought of the game's results. Police and
witnesses could not confirm what Mr. Eakin said to trigger the criminal
complaint.
Mr. Eakin was found guilty last year of punching a handcuffed 24-year-old
man in 1998. His sentence was a $1,000 fine. Prosecutors at Mr. Eakin's
jury trial produced a profanity-laced tape from 1995 where the burly
19-year police veteran threatened a fellow officer for handing out a
traffic ticket to his brother. Mr. Eakin was convicted of internal police
charges for offensive and disreputable conduct following that incident.
Parents whose sons play with Mr. Eakin say he is often a target of taunts
because of his reputation in the community and the talent of his son, who
scores the majority of the Blackhawks' goals.
"He's had a bad rap and people are looking to tar him. You wouldn't believe
what goes on," said Piper Werbowski, the mother of another Blackhawk.
"After all the bad publicity he's had, he's learned to control his temper.
The whole thing was a deliberate attempt to have him kicked out of the
game."
Ms. Werbowski said Mr. Eakin sometimes yells encouraging words at games,
but his behaviour is usually about the same as most hockey moms and dads.
Randy Watt, general manager of the Allard Arena, said parents frequently
cause confrontations and ugly scenes at minor hockey games.
"This stuff happens with five-year-olds. Maybe they should keep parents out
of the games. Everybody thinks their kid is the next Wayne Gretzky."
Chief Jack Ewatski was already deliberating Mr. Eakin's professional fate
in light of the assault conviction when the latest complaint was made on
Sunday.
© 2001, National Post
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gmack29
(snip)
> "After all the bad publicity he's had, he's learned to control his temper.
> The whole thing was a deliberate attempt to have him kicked out of the
> game."
>
A cop with a temper problem sounds like a dangerous combination.
To me a good police officer is someone who can remain cool under even
under the most stressful situations.
I am not a psychologist by any means but I am pretty sure when you
combine stress and a bad temper very unpleasant things can happen.
Candace Wright
sports performance then beating and shooting people for being different than him and now kids I think anyone who would consider him or many of his colleagues as good officers are only sticking up for each other in order to keep their properties etc intact so no one will go near them even if it means to harm everyone around them getting there