20 hours Ago By Michele Mandel
Article content They were Const. Greg Pierzchala’ s brothers in arms, the OPP officers who had come to know and admire the rookie who had just passed his probation period that morning. Only to be killed that afternoon.
They had all heard the same routine OPP dispatch call on that cold Dec. 27, 2022 at about 2:30 p.m.
: A black SUV in the ditch on Indian Line near Hagersville. A witness had stopped to help and reported one of the occupants seemed weird and the driver might have been impaired. “Greg was the closest (to the call),” recalled Const.
Ryan Faust, his zone partner that day shift in Haldimand County. “I was his back-up.” But he wouldn’t get there in time.
On his way, the dispatcher said there’d been a call that an officer was down at the scene of the MVC (motor vehicle collision) on Indian Line. Faust knew immediately it must be sixCharlie101. His buddy.
His partner. Pierzchala. Court has heard the 28-year-old was shot six times almost immediately after his arrival — with his gun still locked in his holster.
Randall McKenzie, 27, and Brandi Stewart-Sperry, 32, have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder at the trial that began last week in Cayuga. After the shooting, the couple allegedly stole a bystander’s black Silverado truck that was soon seen speeding “like a freight train” through Hagersville and then arriving at a relative’s property on the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation less than 10 minutes after the slaying. Both were arrested later that night.
Asked about Pierzchala’s fitness level, Faust said he’d attended university for wrestling, practised j iu jitsu and was training for a marathon. “I would always see him in the gym before day shift or after night shift, or even after working like a 12-14, hour day.” Now his friend lay on the road, unresponsive and pale, surrounded by frantic bystanders who told Faust he’d just been shot.
He got down on his knees beside him and desperately called, “Greg, Greg,” but while his eyes fluttered, there was no answer. Faust said he took Pierzchala’s vest off, attempted first aid and began CPR. As dispatch asked for updates, he delivered the grim news: “It’s confirmed.
Shooting and suspect took off.” In an agreed statement of fact, the jury heard Pierzchala died of multiple gunshot wounds: two to his left thigh which fractured his femur and severed the femoral artery; one to his torso which perforated his right lung and caused fatal internal bleeding; one to his right lower abdomen, a superficial wound to the left buttock and a grazed gunshot wound to the back of his left chest that was recovered from his vest. Recommended video For OPP Sgt.
Bennett Gutenberg, one of his last acts before retirement was testifying at this trial — a duty that left him fighting back tears as he recalled the young man who was always seeking advice on how to become the best officer he could be. As shift supervisor, Gutenberg was clearing a traffic stop when the dispatcher reported an officer had been shot. He raced over to find a dark SUV in the snowy ditch, two police cruisers and an ambulance.
And in the middle of the road, the rookie who had just been given the news that morning that he was no longer on probation. “I observed Greg Pierzchala lying on his back,” Gutenberg testified softly. “He was lifeless.
” And his firearm? “It was in the locked position.” Pierzchala’s coach officer arrived soon after. Evan Nohara was more than Pierzchala’s mentor; he was also his close friend and his loss was one of the reasons he left the OPP last year.
They bonded over their mutual interest in fitness, Brazilian jiu jitsu — though he laughed that Pierzchala was much better — and even trained for a marathon together. Pierzchala was equally dedicated to policing and as a former military reservist, was skilled in using a firearm, Nohara said proudly. “Greg was extremely intentional about not only his professionalism as a police officer but every aspect that was required to be a good and effective peace officer.
” But instead of witnessing his buddy’s bright future, Nohara would accompany the dying officer in the ambulance to the hospital where no amount of lifesaving efforts could save him. The trial continues. mmandel@postmedia.
com.
