Matt Olson has been scheduled to face trial Oct. 12, 2020 at Prince Albert Court of Queen's Bench. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Seeking Justice

Second trial date set for man accused of assaulting and robbing senior couple

Dec 5, 2019 | 2:00 PM

A little more than four years after witnessing a man assault her father, a woman from the MacDowall area is hopeful she can finally have closure.

Andrea Hlewka was asked by paNOW to comment on news of a new trial date for Matt Olson, one of two men accused in a violent home invasion and robbery in the MacDowall District on Sept. 12, 2015.

According to information provided by RCMP at the time of the incident, around 3 a.m. two men entered the home. Hlewka was sleeping downstairs in the basement, and came upstairs after hearing some strange noises.

“I walked into my mom and dad in the porch being assaulted and I had a gun pointed at me at one point,” she said.

Hlewka’s father was violently attacked during the incident in Sept. 2015. (Submitted photo/ Andrea Hlewka)

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Hlewka, who claims she saw three men, also recalled she was told to lie down on the floor, and one of the men went to a nearby bedroom to look for more items to steal. In the process he dropped a can of bear spray on the floor and the bag he had collected to that point which contained coins and a jewelry.

“He came running from the bedroom because I was calling the police and he grabbed the phone out of my hand and I saw the bear spray on the ground so I picked up the bear spray and pointed it at him,” she said.

Unfortunately Hlewka did not know how to release the bear spray, and seeing her confusion, the intruder slapped the can out of her hand. Hlewka then quickly turned, grabbed the bag of goods, and ran downstairs where she locked herself in a bedroom until police arrived. She said the robbers, knowing police were coming, fled and managed to only get away with a collection of tape cassettes.

Hlewka’s dad sustained significant bruises to his head and back as a result of the assault. (Submitted photo/ Andrew Hlewka)

“I think about it often because there’s no closure, because it’s taken so long to bring them to justice,” she said, adding for the first couple years after the incident, her parents who are in their late 70s, had nightmares every night.

Olson, 29, had originally been scheduled to face trial in April of this year, but his lawyer informed the court two weeks prior she had not heard from him. Olson was then on the run but was eventually caught and made his last court appearance on June 28. Since then he has been held in custody.

“That’s ridiculous I mean five years after it happened. This is what happens when you play games with the justice department,” Hlewka said.

Olson’s lawyer, Brent Little, declined to speak to paNOW, and Crown Prosecutor Jeff Lubyk was unavailable for comment.

The co-accused in the case, Trevor Dustin Morin, 30, received a 15 year prison sentence earlier this year for his role in the incident near MacDowall, as well as a separate home invasion in Saskatoon the following month.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell