Assault in Kingston

By Christina Davies

davi0455@algonquincollege.com

When 35 year-old Darren Gibson finished a long day of work laying tile in Kingston's soon-to-be-opened Canadian Tire store on Sept. 27, he had no idea he would next awake in a hospital bed nearly a month later.

Gibson and his boss, Gerard Traverse, had been working 10-hour days, seven days a week, laying tile in three Canadian Tire stores that were under construction across eastern Ontario. They were finishing up the Kingston job when Traverse decided he would take Gibson out to dinner that night, and grab a couple of beers at an Irish pub. On their way home, they decided to stop off at a Subway Restaurant to grab some sandwiches for their drive back to the Hamilton area -- a decision that would drastically change things for Gibson and his family.

"There was a big crowd on the go there," said Traverse. "There was a couple of younger guys sitting at a table and one of the guys said, 'you can go on ahead,' so we went up and stood behind some other people. As we're standing there this guy's screaming out, 'you f------ guys, you cut in line, you this, you that' and we basically were just ignoring him as he got more belligerent," he said.

When Traverse turned to ask the man's friend what was going on, a scuffle broke out behind him and the next thing he saw was Gibson convulsing on the floor of the restaurant.

"I got over there and put my thumb in his mouth – which apparently you don't do anymore, but at the time I thought he was going to choke on his tongue," Traverse said.

A young man who told police he was an Algonquin student, in Kingston to join in the homecoming festivities, has been charged in relation to the incident.

"There's always going to be some dispute obviously between the accused and the facts that we have," said Det. Steve Koopman, lead investigtor, "but we believe that an assault had occurred between the two gentlemen that resulted in him getting arrested and charged."

The accused turned himself in about two weeks after the incident, after the appearance of surveillance and witness video that the Kingston police posted on Youtube.com, hoping to identify him.

Gibson was only recently released from the Kingston General Hospital, where he spent his 35th birthday, but is still recovering from the brain injuries he sustained.

"He's able to walk around again now, but he lost 50 pounds and he's still got a long road ahead of him. The prognosis at the time didn't look very good," said Traverse. "He has a two-year-old son, so it's not easy. It is what it is and hopefully it'll all work itself out in the end."

Mackenzie Gerald McDonald has been charged with aggravated assault.

When 35 year-old Darren Gibson finished a long day of work laying tile in Kingston's soon-to-be-opened Canadian Tire store on Sept. 27, he had no idea he would next awake in a hospital bed nearly a month later.

Gibson and his boss, Gerard Traverse, had been working 10-hour days, seven days a week, laying tile in three Canadian Tire stores that were under construction across eastern Ontario. They were finishing up the Kingston job when Traverse decided he would take Gibson out to dinner that night, and grab a couple of beers at an Irish pub. On their way home, they decided to stop off at a Subway Restaurant to grab some sandwiches for their drive back to the Hamilton area -- a decision that would drastically change things for Gibson and his family.

"There was a big crowd on the go there," said Traverse. "There was a couple of younger guys sitting at a table and one of the guys said, 'you can go on ahead,' so we went up and stood behind some other people. As we're standing there this guy's screaming out, 'you f------ guys, you cut in line, you this, you that' and we basically were just ignoring him as he got more belligerent," he said.

When Traverse turned to ask the man's friend what was going on, a scuffle broke out behind him and the next thing he saw was Gibson convulsing on the floor of the restaurant.

"I got over there and put my thumb in his mouth – which apparently you don't do anymore, but at the time I thought he was going to choke on his tongue," Traverse said.

A young man who told police he was an Algonquin student, in Kingston to join in the homecoming festivities, has been charged in relation to the incident.

"There's always going to be some dispute obviously between the accused and the facts that we have," said Det. Steve Koopman, lead investigtor, "but we believe that an assault had occurred between the two gentlemen that resulted in him getting arrested and charged."

The accused turned himself in about two weeks after the incident, after the appearance of surveillance and witness video that the Kingston police posted on Youtube.com, hoping to identify him.

Gibson was only recently released from the Kingston General Hospital, where he spent his 35th birthday, but is still recovering from the brain injuries he sustained.

"He's able to walk around again now, but he lost 50 pounds and he's still got a long road ahead of him. The prognosis at the time didn't look very good," said Traverse. "He has a two-year-old son, so it's not easy. It is what it is and hopefully it'll all work itself out in the end."

Mackenzie Gerald McDonald has been charged with aggravated assault.