00:00:00.000Well, if you think the Canadian justice system and law enforcement have lost their way over the past few years, just wait until you hear this story.
00:00:09.940Wendy Wasik, a Simcoe, Ontario woman, was enjoying a neighborhood get-together over Labor Day long weekend when she picked up a water gun and had a water fight with one of the neighbor's children.
00:00:21.720Now, you might think that a woman carrying such a dangerous weapon, like a water gun, would require immediate police attention if someone were to, unfortunately, catch a stray water squirt.
00:00:35.200Wasik is now facing a criminal charge of assault with a weapon, which actually means now that the OPP consider a water gun to be a weapon, even after an investigation.
00:00:45.020This is a story of police incompetence and a mind-boggling waste of police resources, resulting in a woman's life being ruined after a playful neighborhood water gun fight.
00:00:57.520So joining us now on The Faulkner Show is Wendy Wasik. Wendy, thank you so much for joining us.
00:01:03.780Okay, so explain to us what happened here, how a 58-year-old school employee holding a water gun could end up with an assault with a weapon charge.
00:01:13.800Well, it was Labor Day weekend on the Sunday, September 1st.
00:01:18.120We were invited over to a few, over to a neighbor's with a few people there that we hadn't met because we've only been in the community for a couple of years.
00:01:27.840So it was just a small gathering, maybe 10 of us.
00:01:30.800And when we went into the backyard, we were sitting and chatting, having some food.
00:01:35.960And while we were there, I noticed there was a young boy.
00:01:38.860I believe he's 10 years old, and there wasn't any other kids there at that time.
00:01:44.020So he looked bored, and I asked him if he had any water guns, and he said, yeah.
00:01:48.100And I said, well, let's run across the street and go grab them.
00:01:50.620So we ran across the street, filled them up, and started squirting each other.
00:01:55.860We proceeded to go into the backyard where the little get-together was and squirted some people there.
00:02:00.600And then the young boy ran out of the gate, and I ran after him.
00:02:06.560And while I was running after him, I was pumping the water gun to try and get the water out.
00:02:11.460And while I was doing that, I was squirting.
00:02:13.960And I just happened to notice that the neighbor was out, and I ended up squirting him by accident.
00:02:20.600He was about three feet away from where I was, cutting his grass.
00:02:28.200I continued to go over and apologize to him because he was very, very upset.
00:02:36.360Apologized several times, and he did not accept my apology.
00:02:39.980And by then, because he was screaming so loud that the rest of the people in the backyard came out to see what the commotion was.
00:02:45.820And he was not willing to listen to me.
00:02:49.780He wasn't willing to listen to the neighbors.
00:02:51.980They were saying it was an accident, too.
00:03:40.380So you said that the OPP were speaking to your husband, but they didn't speak to any of the – did they speak to any bystanders, and did they speak to you?
00:03:47.820Because in the Toronto Star, the reporting indicates that there was an investigation, and after that investigation, you were charged and taken into custody.
00:03:57.500So what kind of investigation was done?
00:04:00.980The investigation was with the gentleman that charged me with assault with a weapon.
00:04:08.120The police did not ask me a single question.
00:04:11.040They didn't ask to see the child's water gun.
00:04:14.200They didn't ask any neighbor a question.
00:04:16.360They talked to the gentleman that charged me, and that was it.
00:04:25.680But has anybody from the police, the police that have carried through with this charge, have they communicated with you since your story has become national news, and it's gone extremely viral on social media?
00:04:36.980I haven't heard a thing from the police, yeah.
00:04:44.460So we know that, you know, Norfolk County is dealing with similar crime issues like the rest of Ontario and Canada,
00:04:51.300specifically with a recent string of carjackings, which have really unfortunately become all too familiar for Canadians in the last few years.
00:04:58.520But does your local OPP detachment have this much free time to go after a local school employee with a water gun?
00:07:41.080And I'm not exactly sure how or what the process is, but, you know, have anybody from the township or the region or your town or even at a political level reached out to you to see what's going on here?
00:07:55.540Because it just seems, it just seems, one, like a serious embarrassment for your local police detachment and for the town.
00:09:01.760Well, that, that really is, it really is astonishing.
00:09:05.360And we hope that your story can get out there because from what you've said and from what has been reported in the news, I really, I really can't believe this is happening.
00:09:14.780And I do genuinely have sympathy for you and your family because this is, this is a, this is a stunning, stunning story.
00:09:22.240And one that I think speaks to the, the, the ways that we see in law enforcement and also the fact that, that this is even, this is even being contemplated by the police.
00:09:35.000Do you have any, any other comments you would like to give to our audience and any other words that you would like to, to, to share with the audience today?
00:09:44.980Well, um, you know what, my two children and my husband have been traumatized over this.
00:09:51.120They're having a hard time continuing their life because they're trying to help me because I'm not that great with all this stuff online.
00:09:58.560Um, yeah, it's just been traumatic for the four of us.
00:10:03.440I can imagine if, if any of the audience wants to financially help you, Wendy, or if they want to, um, uh, add their voice to add their name, rather to the petition,
00:10:13.840the audience can find links to that in the description of this video, Wendy, thank you for joining us today.
00:10:19.580And thank you for sharing your side of the story.