Based on new information provided last week by Conner Copeman, Saskatoon police are revisiting the 2007 assault that left the current Cumberland councillor in a wheelchair. Copeman, 23, returned to the Prairie city late last week to help police advance the investigation. "They'll actively pursue it again," he said. "It really has been the first opportunity to do this. I only got on a health care program in August that I needed to get on to get trained people to be able to make this happen."At age 18, shortly after graduating from high school in 2007 and moving to Saskatchewan, Copeman was found severely injured on a sidewalk on a Saturday morning near a park in Saskatoon, where he had worked for a security company.He suffered a broken neck. He underwent surgery to rebuild vertebrae but did not regain movement in his legs. He has minimal motion in his arms.Copeman feels he was assaulted due to his sexual preference but until now he was not ready to discuss his orientation with police. He said the assault occurred after he had been flirting with some men he had just met."There's three individuals that highly contributed to my spinal cord injury," said Copeman, who was elected to Cumberland council in the fall municipal election. "The police are going to follow up the best they can, and I don't want to jeopardize anything."Giving them a statement in their office rather than in the hospital while trying to do therapies and just being recently injured, I'm at a much more comfortable position."reporter@comoxvalleyrecord.com
