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City police executed search warrant on homeless encampment last summer in unprecedented move
Charges stayed against accused in chop shop
A HIGH-PROFILE arrest of two men accused of operating a bicycle chop shop at a riverside homeless encampment last summer went nowhere in court after the Crown requested the charges be stayed.
The bust at a public park on Waterfront Drive made headlines last August, when the Winnipeg Police Service announced investigators had taken the unprecedented step of applying for a search warrant before entering the makeshift tarp structure.
Police seized 50 bicycle frames, 77 tires, 53 rims and other equipment believed to be stolen. Two men were charged with possession of property obtained by crime.
A review of court records shows the Crown prosecutor leading the case stayed the charges against the accused on April 15. The decision means the charges are suspended but not dismissed, and could be reactivated within one year if new evidence comes to light.
Court documents do not reference the reason behind the decision, but criminal defence lawyer Scott Newman said the Crown typically stays charges when there is no reasonable likelihood of conviction.
“It’s hard to know (why the charges were stayed) without knowing specifically what the evidence was that they gathered,” said Newman, who was not involved in the case.
“I think it’s fair to say that if this were a strong case, it’s far less likely that there would have been a stay of proceedings entered.”
Search warrant documents obtained by the Free Press last year showed police began investigating the encampment in Fort Douglas Park after a city employee reported he’d been conducting a walkthrough of the site and noticed a large structure he did not believe was being used as a dwelling.
The documents described the structure as being approximately 900 square feet, constructed with tarps on four sides, and containing multiple rooms with no roof. Investigators said they found evidence it was being staffed by multiple people who were working in shifts to dismantle bike parts.
Daniel McIntyre Coun. Cindy Gilroy, who has been vocal about the need to strengthen encampment enforcement, said the outcome of the criminal proceedings was “very frustrating to hear.”
“I was at that chop shop, so I know very well what was going on there,” Gilroy said.
“It’s unfortunate because we do know that some of these crimes that are being perpetrated are well organized and gang-run, and they really are taking advantage of a lot of the homeless people who are doing the work.”
Newman commended police for securing a search warrant before entering the encampment, but said it would have likely been difficult for Crown prosecutors to pursue the case without solid evidence linking the accused to the stolen goods.
“They have to prove knowledge that the person knows they are in possession of the stolen thing, and that the person is in control of the object,” Newman said.
“When you have an open encampment… anybody can walk in, anybody can walk out… there are all kinds of issues as to who has knowledge that there are stolen goods in there and who has control over those stolen goods. Those are two obvious issues that a Crown attorney could struggle to get past.”
Cases in which stolen goods are recovered from a building are easier to pursue because lawyers can draw a direct line to the owner of the property or its residents, he said.
“Let’s assume police arrested these two individuals inside that lean-to. How do you tie them to any of the items or stolen goods there? Where is the evidence the Crown can point to?” Newman said.
“How can I ever prove that they’ve been here and this is their stuff, versus, maybe they just walked in.”
DNA evidence or witness statements could help strengthen such a case, but it’s unclear whether that was available to prosecutors, Newman said.
WPS declined to comment on the stay of proceedings Thursday, and efforts to reach the Crown leading the case were unsuccessful.
Gilroy said bicycle chop shops have a significant, negative impact on the community and fuel the trade of illicit drugs. She hopes the stay of proceedings does not discourage police from pursuing charges if they uncover similar operations at encampments in the future.
A spokesperson for Mayor Scott Gillingham said the outcome was “ clearly disappointing,” but police and city officials will “continue to target illegal activities like chop shops in encampments.”
He declined to comment further on the case without having a full understanding of why the charges were stayed.
WPS Const. Stephen Spencer said he is not aware of investigators obtaining warrants for encampments before or since the search on Waterfront Drive.
— with files from Dean Pritchard