‘I am not the same person,’ bus driver says after sucker-punch assault

BY IAN AUSTIN, THE PROVINCE

Bus driver Charles Dixon broke down repeatedly Tuesday as he told how his life was ruined by a sucker punch from 21-year-old Del Louie. Dixon, 55, sobbed as he told Vancouver Provincial Court of his fears for the future of his family as he deals with constant headaches, ongoing operations and the “extreme psychological damage” stemming from the unprovoked Feb. 15 assault. “I am frightened about the future – I have fears I never had before,” Dixon said, tears welling up as he spoke. “I am not the same person I was before this.” Court was told that Louie entered Dixon’s bus parked at the Edmonds Bus Loop in Burnaby by the back doors, and Dixon told him repeatedly to get in line with all the rest of the passengers and enter by the front door. Instead, Louie came up behind Dixon – sitting unaware in the driver’s seat — and sucker-punched him from behind, breaking an orbital bone in two places and effectively preventing Dixon from driving again.

Dixon will undergo a third operation after a difficult recovery from earlier surgery to insert a plate and screws and repair his damaged right eye. “I am afraid of becoming a burden to my family,” said a trembling Dixon, stopping yet again to compose himself. “I am insecure about my family’s financial future. “This is more than a brain injury – this is a permanent disability.” Dixon’s son Aaron — who used to love riding along when his dad was driving the bus — also addressed the court to tell how the assault had changed his life. Aaron was on board his father’s bus that fateful day, and chased after Louie after his father was struck. For his attempt to help his father, Aaron was clubbed by Louie with a four-foot piece of wood resembling a broom handle. “I often get flashbacks of the event when I’m riding the bus,” said Aaron, 24. “I used to greet the passengers. “If I ever get to ride the bus with my dad again, I will be forced to feel like his bodyguard.”

Louie pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily harm and assault with a weapon in the twin assaults on the Dixons, father and son. Crown prosecutor Louise Gauld, in asking for Louie to be jailed for 9 to 12 months followed by two years of probation, talked of the “extreme psychological impact” of the assault on Dixon and proceeded to lay out a number of other related incidents. “It should not involve conditional sentences,” Gauld said. “It should be a ‘real’ jail sentence. “He needs a deterrent that only a jail term can bring. “The public needs to be deterred from violent attacks on vulnerable people like a bus driver.”

In 2009 Louie spat in the face of a female bus driver and was convicted of assault. He has broken his bail conditions three times since the February assaults, court heard. In one, Louie spat in the face of a police officer and a paramedic. The court heard that Louie is Aboriginal and suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome. Louie had a difficult childhood, the court heard, dropping out of school at 14, and has taken courses for anger management and substance abuse. Louie may learn his fate Dec. 16, when his sentencing hearing is set to resume.

http://www.theprovince.com