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Motta inquiry to continue next week
By Staff reporter
The public inquiry into the death of Okotoks resident Vince Motta will resume next Tuesday.
Motta’s unusual death following a routine appendectomy was the subject of a fatality inquiry held for two weeks in June.
The judge overseeing the inquiry heard details of Motta’s case and general information on the state of emergency services in Alberta.
Motta was taken to two Calgary hospitals on New Year’s Day 2001 by his mother after the 18-year-old had been complaining of severe stomach pain.
The pair first went to Rockyview Hospital but left when they were told there was a long line-up. They then went to Foothills Hospital where they waited for four hours without being seen.
Finally they left opting to go home. Later that night Motta went to the High River Hospital in severe pain. He had an emergency appendectomy but reacted badly to the anesthetic he was given because he was an asthmatic.
A series of problems including a delayed landing of the STARS ambulance called to carry Motta to Rockyview Hospital and the absence of an emergency flight physician on the helicopter have been questioned at the inquiry.
The last part of the inquiry focused on the state of emergency health in Alberta. Members of the Calgary Regional Health Authority (CRHA) explained annual reports from emergency health regions and answered questions posed by the inquiry judge.
When the inquiry resumes Aug. 27 additional information, such as missing parts of the call to STARS ambulance and emergency health reports not available in June will be presented.
Sue Conroy, the director of emergency and trauma health services for the CRHA, will continue the testimony she gave on the last scheduled day of the June inquiry.
The fatality inquiry will conclude Aug. 29. More dates may be scheduled if deemed necessary by the judge, who will be providing recommendations but not establishing guilt in the case.
Found!! (gray tabby female cat) She returned home quite badly injured. It seems some sort of animal got a hold of her and bit her quite badly. She is doing fine now and is on medication. It is amazing she made it home.
Thank you all for your support.
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Get ‘em cowgirl!
This young girl attempts to rope in this mechanical calf which is attached to a pulley system during the annual Priddis/Millarville Fair held Saturday. While demonstrating true cowgirl style, the youngster’s efforts were in vain as the calf managed to elude the rope’s target.
- photo by Cindy Ballance
Okotokian arrested in truck theft
By Staff reporter
An Okotoks youth has been charged in relation to a truck theft that saw the culprit get away from the owner of the truck and local RCMP.
An Okotoks man noticed his truck being stolen shortly after midnight Sunday, Aug. 11 and quickly sprang into action.
He called police and then pursued the thief in his wife’s car. The owner of the truck managed to trap the culprit on a dead end road. However, the culprit managed to get away by ramming the car out of the way.
The driver of the car was not hurt and the car sustained minor damages.
Later the truck was spotted by an Okotoks Protective Services officer traveling northbound on Highway 2A. The officer flashed his lights and sounded his siren causing the suspect to stop at the intersection of Highway 2A and 338th Avenue. The driver of the stolen truck took off again, turning east on 338th Avenue near the Okotoks Animal Clinic.
The officer was unable to keep up to the suspect, who was traveling upwards of 125 kilometres in slippery road conditions due to an earlier hail storm.
As the police officer continued down 338th Avenue he found the truck burning in the ditch. The driver had apparently lost control of the vehicle and struck a power pole.
A search by police with the help of the police dog unit, neighboring RCMP units and a HAWC helicopter did not turn up the suspect.
Evidence left at the scene led police to the suspect who was arrested late Monday night.
The suspect will appear in Okotoks Provincial Court today (Wednesday). He is charged with theft of a vehicle over $5,000, breach of probation, failing to stop for a peace officer and dangerous driving.
The suspect cannot be named under the Young Offenders’ Act.
