WELLAND - Testimony continued in a Welland courtroom Tuesday into the retrial of
a former Niagara Regional Police officer accused of leaking information to the
Hells Angels.
Several officers involved in an investigation and execution of a search warrant of several Hells Angels members were called to testify in the case.
Former Niagara Regional Police constable Frank Dean Rudge pleaded not guilty to breach of trust for allegedly releasing confidential police information from the Port Colborne detachment to the Niagara chapter of the biker gaxxx.
Rudge fell under suspicion when the NRP intelligence branch learned the Hells Angels possessed confidential police documents about the rival Outlaws Motorcycle Club as well as their plans to reopen a St. Catharines chapter.
Rudge was charged following a provincewide raid in 2006. The officer denied allegations against him at his first trial, claiming a third party stole the documents from the detachment.
Rudge was acquitted in 2010 but the Court of Appeal ordered the case be retried.
Justice Peter Hambly presided over the proceedings Tuesday which saw Crown prosecutor Robin Flummerfelt call upon five witnesses during the second day of the trial.
Several key witnesses identified items such as confidential police documents, names and contact information of members of Hells Angels chapters across Canada as well as $320,000 in cash having been found in the garage of a home belonging to a member of the Hells Angels during the 2006 raid.
Officer Christopher Zafiriees, a member of the Hamilton police service, testified he was called to help execute a search warrant into members of the Hells Angels on Sept. 28, 2006.
He told Flummerfelt that his only involvement in the case was in the execution of the raid in Niagara — the goal of the search was to uncover Hells Angels clothing, jewelry, documentation, photographs, and storage devices such as USBs and computer hard drives containing information referring to and identifying members of the criminal organization.
What police didn’t expect to find were confidential police memos meant for members of the biker enforcement unit, he said.
“It would be classified information. Information that sworn officers should have seen,” Zafirees said, about a police memo he identified he found in the raid.
Lisa Isherwood of the Niagara Regional Police testified she worked with Rudge in the summer of 2004 to 2005 performing bylaw compliance checks in bars in Port Colborne, and witnessed Rudge communicating with several individuals associated with the Hells Angels.
Flummerfelt explored the possibility the Hells Angels could have come into possession of the documents by an unknown third party who may have broken into the Port Colborne detachment when he questioned Brian Richardson of the Niagara Regional Police.
Between 2005 to 2008, Richardson served as a staff sergeant at the Port Colborne detachment. He testified that the police building is secured by a entry system requiring an access number.
During each shift there are a minimum number of officers and a staff sergeant on duty, and that during the night shift the Port Colborne detachment sees “a steady flow” of officers in and out while performing their duties, he said.
The trial continues Wednesday morning at the Welland courthouse.
http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/2013/01/22/hells-angels-raid-turned-up-confidential-police-memos
Several officers involved in an investigation and execution of a search warrant of several Hells Angels members were called to testify in the case.
Former Niagara Regional Police constable Frank Dean Rudge pleaded not guilty to breach of trust for allegedly releasing confidential police information from the Port Colborne detachment to the Niagara chapter of the biker gaxxx.
Rudge fell under suspicion when the NRP intelligence branch learned the Hells Angels possessed confidential police documents about the rival Outlaws Motorcycle Club as well as their plans to reopen a St. Catharines chapter.
Rudge was charged following a provincewide raid in 2006. The officer denied allegations against him at his first trial, claiming a third party stole the documents from the detachment.
Rudge was acquitted in 2010 but the Court of Appeal ordered the case be retried.
Justice Peter Hambly presided over the proceedings Tuesday which saw Crown prosecutor Robin Flummerfelt call upon five witnesses during the second day of the trial.
Several key witnesses identified items such as confidential police documents, names and contact information of members of Hells Angels chapters across Canada as well as $320,000 in cash having been found in the garage of a home belonging to a member of the Hells Angels during the 2006 raid.
Officer Christopher Zafiriees, a member of the Hamilton police service, testified he was called to help execute a search warrant into members of the Hells Angels on Sept. 28, 2006.
He told Flummerfelt that his only involvement in the case was in the execution of the raid in Niagara — the goal of the search was to uncover Hells Angels clothing, jewelry, documentation, photographs, and storage devices such as USBs and computer hard drives containing information referring to and identifying members of the criminal organization.
What police didn’t expect to find were confidential police memos meant for members of the biker enforcement unit, he said.
“It would be classified information. Information that sworn officers should have seen,” Zafirees said, about a police memo he identified he found in the raid.
Lisa Isherwood of the Niagara Regional Police testified she worked with Rudge in the summer of 2004 to 2005 performing bylaw compliance checks in bars in Port Colborne, and witnessed Rudge communicating with several individuals associated with the Hells Angels.
Flummerfelt explored the possibility the Hells Angels could have come into possession of the documents by an unknown third party who may have broken into the Port Colborne detachment when he questioned Brian Richardson of the Niagara Regional Police.
Between 2005 to 2008, Richardson served as a staff sergeant at the Port Colborne detachment. He testified that the police building is secured by a entry system requiring an access number.
During each shift there are a minimum number of officers and a staff sergeant on duty, and that during the night shift the Port Colborne detachment sees “a steady flow” of officers in and out while performing their duties, he said.
The trial continues Wednesday morning at the Welland courthouse.
http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/2013/01/22/hells-angels-raid-turned-up-confidential-police-memos
