Trial set for two men caught on video violently assaulting Vedder River angler
Jason Burgener, Micheal Irwin charged with assault causing bodily harm two years after the widely seen beating of a man on a gravel bar
Jason Allen Burgener is apparently a violent man with a dangerous temper.
The 49-year-old attacked his Sardis neighbour in 2022, and he was convicted of domestic assault more than a decade ago.
Now, more than three years after he was caught on video taking part in a beating of an angler on a Vedder River gravel bar, Burgener and co-accused Micheal Anthony Irwin are facing a trial at the end of the summer for assault causing bodily harm.
It was a sunny day on July 24, 2022, when someone on the north side of the Vedder River west of the train bridge filmed a jet boat speeding eastbound past dozens of anglers on the narrow stretch of the river.
As the boat passed, someone on the shore yelled to the boat driver to slow down. About 15 minutes later, the boat came back and the driver beached it on the gravel bar where half a dozen men were fishing.
Two men got off the boat. One was Burgener, according to several sources at the time, the other was apparently Irwin. The shirtless Irwin is seen grabbing a man holding a fishing rod, yanking him down to his knees and punching him six or seven times in the head.
Burgener, who appears to be holding a beer can, watches over the beating and kicks the man at least once. The whole attack lasted less than 20 seconds. A third balding man in a green shirt with camouflage shorts – who fell over in the boat as it landed – also got out and walked over to other men and is seen yelling and gesturing at them.
Video of an assault on the Vedder River in Chilliwack on July 24, 2022. The two men seen assaulting an angler on shore, Jason Burgener and Micheal Irwin, are charged with assault causing bodily harm with a trial scheduled for September 2025. (Submitted video)
As the boat sped away, Burgener turned and waved at people on the north shore of the river.
In addition to Burgener, Irwin and the bald man, there was the boat's driver and two women, one blonde and one brunette. Both women fell to the bottom of the boat from the side seat when they came to a sudden stop near the gravel bar.
A witness said the boat was speeding and the men were drinking. Beyond the obvious physical assault caught on video, one witness also suggested it was a violation of Fisheries and Oceans Canada rules because salmon were s pawning in the river at the time.
“This can’t be tolerated in our society,” said the witness, who asked not to be named. “People need to be charged, if not having their boat confiscated.”
One person contacted me to claim that someone on the shore threw a rock at the boat prior to the assault, but the two witnesses did not report that.
Days after the assault, a Chilliwack RCMP spokesperson said they were looking for witnesseses to come forward. They also asked for those on the boat to contact police.
Someone provided the four names of the men on the boat to me a few days after the incident. Two of them were indeed Burgener and Irwin. No one else is charged in the incident.
Two months before the assault, on May 14, 2022, Burgener got into an altercation with a neighbour in the Sardis Park area. The victim was violently choked by Burgener so badly that an air ambulance was called in.
“He almost killed [him],” another neighbour told me about the May assault after video of the river incident was made public and Burgener was recognized.
“I’m afraid someone’s going to die at his hands. He’s out of control.... He’s a menace.”
Burgener was charged with the serious crime of assault by choking (which falls under assault causing bodily harm) for the May attack. His first appearance on that charge was June 5, 2022, 19 days before the river incident. But it wasn’t until Feb. 12, 2024, that he was found guilty of the lesser included charge of assault. He received a conditional discharge and 15 months probation.
In 2012, Burgener was found guilty of assault in a domestic abuse case. He got 15 months probation for that followed by 18 months probation when he was charged with breaching the first probation 12 days after the sentence.
Burgener and Irwin were on the court list in Chilliwack today Feb. 4, 2025, for a routine appearance. A four-day trial is scheduled to run Sept. 2, 3, 4, 5, 2025.
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Paul J. Henderson
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