Four punches to the face, 15 aggressive stomps to the head, 16 days in intensive care and $4.40 in change that could have paid the fare.
Those were some of the numbers that emerged at the sentencing hearing for Gary Edwin Mattson, an Edmonton man who pleaded guilty Thursday to a vicious assault on a St. Albert man and Edmonton Transit Driver last December.
Crown prosecutors also intend to seek dangerous offender status for Mattson that would see him incarcerated indefinitely.
Mattson pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and assaulting a police officer. While the sentencing hearing was not completed, Crown prosecutor Patricia Innes did indicate she would be seeking the designation.
Vicious assault
Innes used witness statements and police reports to describe the attack on Tom Bregg, 58, a St. Albert man and long time Edmonton Transit driver.
The statements from several passengers on the bus all indicated Mattson ran alongside the bus Bregg was driving on Dec. 3 around 7:30 a.m. and pounded on the front doors as the bus started to pull away.
Mattson got on the bus but said he did not have enough money for the fare and started yelling and swearing at Bregg. Even after another passenger gave Mattson the money for the fare, he continued yelling.
All of the witness statements describe how Mattson struck Bregg without warning, first punching him three or four times in the face before pulling him out of his chair and throwing him to the ground just outside the bus.
The bus was equipped with video surveillance and one of the police reports said after reviewing the video, it appeared Bregg was knocked unconscious before being thrown from the bus.
Outside Mattson continued his assault, stomping on Bregg 14 times before pausing and then stomping on his face one final time.
Witness Cory Scott Dehek who was on the bus, described having to turn away when he exited because Bregg's injuries were so disturbing.
Bregg spent 16 days in intensive care recovering from the attack, as well as several more weeks in hospital and at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Centre.
Officers found Mattson just a few blocks away and took him into custody. He was aggressive and resisted the officers' attempts to arrest him. At one point he spat at one of the arresting officers.
Statements disputed
Inness also had three witness statements from a party where Mattson had been in the early morning hours before the attack, read into the record.
They indicated Mattson had been drinking at that party, had been asked to leave and was then locked out after an argument with several guests.
Defence lawyer Naeem Rafu objected to those statements and said Inness would have to present the witnesses to be cross-examined if she wanted the evidence to be part of the record. He also argued the statements were of no relevance.
Inness also called upon a crime scene investigator and blood spatter expert to testify during the hearing, who noted there was blood all over the crime scene and on Mattson's jeans and shoes.
Rafu also took issue with some of this evidence, not wanting to admit that the blood on Mattson's shoes and clothing was entirely Bregg's.
The expert also testified about the belongings seized from Mattson, including $4.40, which would have paid the fare that sparked the initial dispute.
The sentencing hearing was cut short on Thursday afternoon to allow Rafu to attend a funeral and is expected to resume sometime later this month.
