Regina woman feels failed by police after break and enter

It was only fear that went through Lorna Evans’ mind when she heard her husband cry out on Saturday night. He shouted for her to call 911 … there was a man in the house.

Those were a scary few minutes for the couple, but it also ended up being frustrating as Evans, 63, feels they were treated badly and failed by the police.

It was Saturday evening between hockey games that the incident played out. Evans said she’d gone upstairs to her bedroom to watch TV and her husband had gone up to have a bath, planning on heading back out to their deck to watch the second hockey game of the night.

The home’s surveillance system shows a man wearing jeans and a white t-shirt crossing their front lawn, passing by the large, colourful, inflatable decorations set up for Easter. He hopped the gate beside their home, went around through the backyard, up onto the deck and, without hesitation, through their back door.

The first inkling Evans had that something was happening was her dogs — three of them started barking and then ran to her in the bed.

“My husband got out of the bathtub and opened the door, and there was an intruder standing outside of our bedroom and bathroom door,” said Evans.

She said her husband shouted to her to quickly call 911. Her husband ran to put some clothes on and Evans grabbed a bat she kept at hand in her bedroom for protection. She went out to the hallway and confronted the intruder.

“I said to the man to get out of my house or I was going to crack him one,” she said.

She said he was talking on a phone, but she couldn’t hear what he was saying — she didn’t realize until later it was their landline.

Evans was on the phone with 911 at the same time.

“The 911 operator told me to quit making threats, it was all on tape,” Evans paused. “And I hung up on her.”

Evans said she has the right to defend herself in her own home, and that an officer later confirmed that for her and apologized for the 911 operator.

Evans’ husband came out and got between her and the intruder. He ushered the man downstairs and out the front door where police had just arrived.

According to the surveillance video, officers spoke to the man for a few minutes before eventually putting him in cuffs and taking him away.

Evans and her husband came outside for a minute and talked to police, then she went inside to grab a coat.

“(I) went back outside, the police didn’t approach me, the three police vehicles that were there drove away, and that was the last we heard,” said Evans.

She said they didn’t take any statements from her or her husband, and they weren’t given any information about what happened or someone to contact to get information. Evans said the police treated them like they were part of the scenery.

Evans said she waited until Monday morning, then called the Regina Police Service main line. She was told the people on the case weren’t available, and after waiting on hold for 20 minutes was also told the watch commander wouldn’t talk to her as there was nothing new in the case. According to Evans, the operator said they would be sending an officer out to take a statement.

“I said, ‘Well, when would that be? Before midnight?’ and she said, ‘Well, hopefully before midnight,’ ” said Evans.

It was then that Evans decided to contact the media — she called in to Gormley on 980 CJME. She told him what happened, and quickly after her story was on the air, she said she got a call from police with more information and the officer soon arrived to get statements from her and her husband.

980 CJME contacted Regina police about the incident, but the only thing police would say about it is that if Evans has concerns about the officers’ conduct, then she can file a complaint. Evans said she was planning on filing a complaint with the police service and the Public Complaints Commission.

When 980 CJME asked for information about whether the man arrested would be charged with anything, police said that as the incident would likely be the subject of a complaint, it would be inappropriate to release such information.

Evans said she was unable to get any information about whether the man would be charged either. An officer did tell her what the man had apparently said about being in their house: He was being chased by some bad people and he went into their house to seek shelter and call police. Evans said she was told it was police who were chasing the man.

Evans feels police were negligent in the incident.

“A person … (was) upstairs in our home, outside of our bedroom door, and the police just act like it was nothing and just drove away,” she said.

While the man may not have attacked them or stolen anything, Evans said she still feels victimized. She said it’s frustrating to have to deal with, but also scary.

“It’s getting worse as time goes on. I feel more afraid. I wonder will the police come for me next time if I call for help? I don’t know,” she said.