JUDGE GRANTS AWARD TO ANTI-ADDICT VIGILANTE

SURREY - A B.C. Supreme Court Judge has awarded $279,132 to a one-legged
Surrey man who was injured while trying to deliver vigilante justice to
drug addicts in his neighbourhood.

Dmetro (Matt) Wepruk, a 72-year-old commercial fisherman and scrapyard
owner, was injured Nov. 3, 2000 when, in an "act of vigilante justice," he
confronted a methamphetamine addict in his neighbourhood near 128th Street.

Wepruk, who had a leg amputated following a 1965 car accident, had his
remaining leg injured along with his lower back and shoulders after the
addict he confronted hit him with a car.

Justice Victoria Gray Wednesday awarded Wepruk $279,132.08 in damages,
including $119,250 for past loss of capacity to earn income. The judge
stated: "Mr. Wepruk continues to experience pain in his knees, hips, back,
shoulders and neck... Mr. Wepruk's mobility has been significantly impaired
since the incident... While there is still the hope of some improvement,
the incident occurred four years ago and Mr. Wepruk continues to suffer."

Wepruk, reached at his home Thursday night, would not say much about the
award because he hadn't heard about it from his lawyer, except that he had
hoped to receive more than the amount he's been awarded.

"It's not much over the long term, is it?" he said.

The events that led up to Wepruk's confrontation with the addict began when
his scrapyard near his home was broken into several times. Wepruk suspected
the people breaking into the yard hung out at what he called a "drug house"
near his business.

At 4 a.m. on Nov. 3, 2000, Wepruk went to check on his scrapyard. He
photographed a red 1987 Pontiac Firefly automobile parked at the drug
house. The driver of the car, Daniel Butt, and his girlfriend, Jennifer
McGarva, both methamphetamine addicts at the time, saw the photographs
being taken and became angry. They followed Wepruk to his house and parked
in his driveway.

Fearing for his safety, Wepruk grabbed a wooden post from his van and
smashed the windshield and back window of the Pontiac Firefly. The Firefly
was put into gear and drove into Wepruk, pinning him to the van.