An Edmonton man said a recent homicide might have been prevented if police took his complaint more seriously.
Late last month, police said 51-year-old Donald Doucette died from blunt abdominal trauma.
Doucette was found at around 4:45 p.m. on Sunday, July 31 in an alley near 107A Avenue and 96 Street. Paramedics declared him dead at the scene.
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Sheldon Russell Bentley, a private security guard who worked in the area, was charged with manslaughter and robbery.
Ken Jacobs said he made a complaint to Edmonton police two years ago after he said he was attacked by Bentley while trying to buy a bag of chips at a convenience store.
“The security guard came on to me, ‘You’re stealing those chips.’ I was standing in line. I says, ‘I’m not stealing anything.’ Automatically, the fists came out and he started swinging on me,'” Jacobs said.
Jacobs said the attack left him with a crushed disc in his back. He alleges he wrote a police report and pursued charges for two months but was told there wasn’t enough evidence to pursue charges against Bentley.
“I do blame the cops. They could have charged that guy with assault right there. He would have lost his job, he would have lost his bond or whatever. He would have been out of business.”
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Mario Borba, who works for the inner city agency Mustard Seed, said communication with police isn’t always great.
“The feeling that we get from the community is that they think that police think, ‘oh, that’s not an important call. It’s just another homeless calling.'”
Borba said he respects the local beat officers, and area residents do too. He’d like to see that program expanded.
“The beat cops are doing an excellent job. I have their personal phone numbers so if I have any problems, I phone them.”
Edmonton police said they are not releasing any more information on the manslaughter file at this time.
With files from Fletcher Kent, Global News.
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