A Kamloops, B.C. couple who have been paying for a hotel since an RCMP cruiser smashed into their rented home last year are now breathing a sigh of relief after the Mounties agreed to compensate them.
Wayne Sjodin says the RCMP have agreed to pay for the thousands of dollars in expenses he and his wife Carla have racked up since the Dec. 7 crash made their home unliveable. Sjodin says he got a call from Supt. Doug Anthony, the RCMP's national director of civil litigation, who had heard about the couple's plight.
"He said, ‘I'm going to make this right,'" Sjodin told ctvbc.ca. "Hotels, meals, everything. He told me, ‘You put your claim in, we'll cover it.'"
It all started when an officer pursuing a drunk driver lost control and slammed a police SUV into the Sjodins' home. The couple says the force of the crash destroyed their kitchen, caused structural damage and a flood in their basement.
To make things worse, Sjodin says they had to continue to pay rent, and were told the RCMP's insurance wouldn't cover their hotel bill.
"We went for two months getting the runaround," he said. "I was dipping into my military pension."
But with word the RCMP is stepping in, the couple can now focus on moving back home and are hoping all the repairs will be completed this month. Sjodin says the news couldn't come sooner for his wife Carla, who has been under a lot of stress.
"She's had a rough time," Sjodin said. "She burst into tears when she found out."
