In past generations, anyone who called the police to report “an assault” by a children’s water gun would be told – in no uncertain terms – to stop wasting precious police resources.
Today these childish complaints are acted upon by Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) to criminally charge “the offender” – 58-year-old Wendy Washik.
All because one man can’t accept a sincere apology for a harmless spray of water from a children’s toy.
Is this an absurd waste of police resources or is it required to keep a dangerous offender from committing more crimes?
The answer is obvious to everyone but the OPP.
Too Much Time on Their Hands?
Anyone with an ounce of common sense understands that this criminal charge for “assault with a weapon” is ridiculous – as in richly deserving ridicule.
In a “real” investigation police interview everyone involved.
“They didn’t ask me one single question. They didn’t interview one single person,” Washik told CTV News.[i]
- Why did the arresting constable not question Wendy Washik before charging her with a criminal offense?
- Why did the arresting constable not use common sense to diffuse this simple neighbourly misunderstanding?
- Why did the arresting constable not take into account the litany of baseless complaints this neighbourhood “jerk” incessantly filed with police and ignore his latest baseless complaint?[ii]
All great questions, to which we have no answers.
Serial Complainer
Wendy Washik’s neighbours all tell the same story. The man who called police Washik has a long history of complaining about the tiniest perceived offence against him.[iii]
“He’s had numerous issues on the street, [with] lots of neighbours,” explained Kirk Stewart. “Police [are] called on them and they’re constantly here.”
“It’s been a recurring issue on the street, police being at his house for very, very minor issues,” added Michael MacConnachie.
Another neighbour said she and her son do their best to avoid the man’s home.
The people in this neighbourhood say that “the police have been weaponized against them.”
“I don’t think it should be that way,” said one resident. “I think our system is really messed up.”
“We all get along fine, we’re not calling the police on our other neighbours,” Michael MacConnachie said.
“It’s always the one individual who’s calling the police.”
OPP’s So-Called “High Standards”
“We are committed to maintaining high standards in our investigative work,” Const. Andrew Gamble claimed, “regardless of how the public may perceive the allocation of resources. Our focus remains on doing our job effectively, ensuring that each case receives the attention it deserves, regardless of public perception.”[iv]
If that were true, we wouldn’t be writing about this case because it deserves no attention.
We’d never even know that “the water gun incident” occurred.
“I’m very upset that my full name was disclosed (but) the type of weapon wasn’t mentioned,” Wendy Washik told a reporter.[v]
This so-called “Weapon Identification Policy” is Provably False
OPP spokesperson Const. Andrew Gamble said details about what kinds of weapons are involved in charges “are not generally shared with the public.”
That statement is provably false.
- When members of the Lennox and Addington Detachment of the OPP busted four alleged drug dealers – Joshua Boldrick, Matthew Boldrick, Terry Boldrick, and Sharon Boldrick – also in illegal possession of 100 guns, they published a photo along with the descriptions of the types of firearms seized – handguns and long guns.[vi]
- When members of the Lanark County OPP detachment arrested Lance Cook, Blake Cook, and April Greenham on drug and weapons charges, they identified “two firearms” along with the drugs and cash seized.[vii]
- When members of the Collingwood OPP detachment arrested Christopher Sabean and five others in a drug bust, they readily identified the firearm in Sabean’s possession as a “loaded handgun.”
- When James Bay OPP arrested an unnamed teenager with a sawed-off shotgun, they were pleased to report that fact.[viii]
- When the OPP seized 106 firearms in one of the largest gun smuggling busts in OPP history, they were happy to report “the largest seizure of handguns and ‘assault-style’ rifles in the province’s history” along with a host of fentanyl and methamphetamines.[ix]
We searched dozens of news reports attributed to OPP press releases. Every single one of them identified the type of weapon used or seized.
But when the “weapon” is a children’s toy, suddenly OPP policy is to not identify the “weapon” used in this heinous “assault”?
We cannot comprehend why the OPP behaved the way they did in this case.
We do know that, when questioned about the ridiculous charge of “assault with a weapon”, instead of admitting this was all a horrible mistake, they double down on their stupidity and insist that it’s the public who “just don’t understand.”
Since the OPP, in this case, has clearly lost their way, we encourage Crown counsel to do the right thing.
Drop all charges against Wendy Washik.
Then apologise on behalf of the OPP, who appear incapable of admitting they made a mistake.
[i] https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/ontario-woman-charged-with-assault-with-a-weapon-after-neighbour-sprayed-with-water-gun-1.7033054
[ii] https://www.audacy.com/987thespot/latest/woman-arrested-after-accidentally-spraying-man-w-water-gun
[iii] https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/ontario-woman-charged-with-assault-with-a-weapon-after-neighbour-sprayed-with-water-gun-1.7033054
[iv] https://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/water-gun-fight-leads-to-criminal-assault-charge-for-sw-ontario-mom
[v] ibid
[vi] https://ottawa.citynews.ca/2024/05/27/four-charged-with-hundreds-of-offences-in-massive-drug-gun-bust/
[vii] https://ottawa.citynews.ca/2022/10/12/lanark-opp-charge-four-people-after-seizing-drugs-and-weapons-in-montague-township-5942439/
[viii] https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/police-seize-sawed-off-shotgun-ammo-northern-ont-teen-charged-1.7036947
[ix] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/record-ontario-gun-seizure-1.7122296
