Last summer, hoodlums were making life miserable for west coast Canadian campers.
Police Ruin Innocent Man
…For Trying To Protect His Wife, Kids
by Alan JarvisLast summer, hoodlums were making life miserable for west coast Canadian campers. Time after time, the roughnecks swooped down on campsites, screaming obscene curses, throwing rocks and debris.
It got so bad that British Columbia government officials suggested that campers themselves should show more spunk in chasing off the hoodlums.
Les Copan, of Burnaby, B.C., took this advice on the night of July 22, — and what did it get him? Trouble, with a capital T!
For the next eight months Copan’s life became a nightmare. A nightmare that saw him thrown into jail and financially bankrupted. All because Copan tried to protect his wife and four children — Lee, 12, Mike, 11, Steve, 10, and Gail, 8.
That was the night the Copan clan pitched tent on the shore of Canim Lake at a campsite in the B.C. Interior, to begin a fun-holiday trip. The family was in a great mood; it was Les Copan’s 38th birthday.
After he received his presents, and the kids were tucked away in the tent, Les and his wife set about last-minute chores.
Suddenly, without warning, four hoodlums from a nearby construction camp appeared on the road above the camping grounds.
For no reason, they began shouting nasty threats at Copan and other family campers in the area.
When their obscene yells were ignored by the respectable citizens, who wanted to avoid trouble, the youths began throwing rocks and huge chunks of wood down onto the tent tops.
This couldn’t be ignored after a rock hit Mrs. Copan and scared the children from the tent. Copan and a second camper shouted to the boys to take off. More rocks and debris came as their reply. The more Copan shouted he’d had enough, the more the troublemakers laughed at him.
« I was worried for our safety, » Copan said. « I ran to the trunk of my car and got my .303 rifle! »
Seeing his wife and kids hiding in the tent and listening to the language of intruers above them proved too much for Les. « I aimed the rifle high, above where the boys stood laughing, and fired! » recalls Copan.
But the hoodlums only laughed louder. « Go ahead and shoot again, Mister — kill us, go ahead. We dare you! » shouted one young thug.
Copan fired a second shot! There was silence from above the road. The toughs disappeared.
Believing they had been driven away, Copan huddled his family back into the tent and retired himself, praying that the rest of the camping trip would be happier.
But the toughs wanted more trouble. Driving to a phone booth, they phoned the Royal Mounted Police at nearby 100 Mile House, a town on the Cariboo highway, to report that one of them had been shot by camper Copan.
Jack Henderson, 19, had been hit — by Copan’s second bullet, which had a cupronickel casing and had shattered when it hit a tree making a fragment strike Henderson in the jaw. But the wound turned out to be slight, though the RCMP didn’t know it at the time of the call.
« At about 5 a.m. I was awakened by Corporal Purdy of the 100 Mile House RCMP detachment, » says Copan. « After I dressed, I was led away, under arrest like a common criminal. I’ll never forget the look of fright in my wife’s eyes or how my kids stared at me! » says Les.
Though the RCMP were courteous and apologetic, they drove Copan to their station 26 miles away and booked him into a cell, charged him with assault causing bodily harm. « I stayed in that cell till 10 the next morning, » he recalls. « I couldn’t believe it was happening! »
In court, the hoodlums pleaded guilty to charges of creating a disturbance and were fined $200 each, and walked away. But bail for Copan was set at $500 cash that morning!
(…) « Worried sick, we headed home to Burnaby. My husband was so concerned about the black mark on his record. He’s such a respected citizen in our town! »
(…) At the Sept. 9 trial, the judge indicated sympathy, too, when he convicted Copan on a lesser charge of common assault and fined him only $50.
But, for Copan, his fight was just beginning. He was determined to appeal the conviction and clear the criminal mark from his personal record. (…) « It would’ve been easy at this stage to just say ‘okay, I’ll forget the appeal,’ and try to get back on my feet, » says Copan. « But my nose had been clean for 38 years and a criminal record could hurt me in many ways for years to come. I was determined to get it off the books! »
He did. On March 26, ’65, an end came to Copan’s months of sleepless nights, when three Appeal Court judges ruled that Les Copan be acquitted of common assault.
Says the man whose record was wiped clean: « The judges recognized that my family was being assaulted and that I shot in self defence. A man has a right to defend his family and not be punished for it for the rest of his life! »
Midnight, May 24, 1965.
