‘All hell is breaking loose’ in Brandon: Crown attorney

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This article was published 13/10/2016 (3470 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The federal Crown attorney who handles the drug docket for the Brandon court has sounded the alarm over shots recently fired and a drug trade that’s “getting out of control.”

Crown attorney Christina Cheater made the statements as she asked a judge to deny bail for a man who was allegedly caught with drugs in a hotel room.

“I don’t know what’s going on in Brandon, lately, but all hell is breaking loose. There’s no other way of putting it,” Cheater said in Brandon provincial court on Tuesday.

“People are raining shots into the streets, it is not safe out there right now. The drug trade is getting out of control.”

In just under one month, there have been four shootings in Brandon. A woman received minor injuries in a shooting on Ninth Street, in a shooting a week later on 10th Street a man survived being shot in the torso, and two homes had bullets fired at them.

A comment overheard by a witness at the Ninth Street shooting suggests it may be linked to the drug trade.

People involved in the Sept. 24 shooting have been linked to illegal drugs, including one accused who was allegedly found with crystal meth during his arrest.

Police have also said that the same shooting is linked to a home invasion and spraying of bullets at a home on Lorne Avenue East the following day.

An empty home on Russell Street, which was shot at early Monday morning, has a backyard that lies beside that of the formerly shot-up Lorne Avenue East home.

While the man who applied for bail on Tuesday has not been linked to any of these recent shootings, prior to denying bail Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta said she shares the Crown’s concerns.

“I appreciate the comments of the Crown in terms of the chaos that seems to be occurring in Brandon recently in terms of the drug scene and the shootings that have been going on,” Hewitt-Michta said.

Cheater said this accused was arrested on Aug. 24, when Brandon police were called to the Lakeview Inn and Suites to deal with three unwanted guests.

Two men fled the hotel as police arrived. They were caught at the scene, but not before one was seen throwing objects from his waistband into the field.

A police dog found six small baggies holding cocaine and methamphetamine.

Meanwhile, staff couldn’t get a third suspect out of the Jacuzzi suite, which had been rented. There was no response to knocking, and it was locked from the inside.

Staff gave police the authority to force their way into the room and a man was found passed out on the couch, in plain view of white powder believed to be cocaine on the coffee table.

There were also small baggies, a grinder and another bag that held a substance believed to be cocaine, and a scale.

In addition, there were five cellphones and a makeshift weapon in the form of a sock with a pool ball in it.

There were also two cocaine presses, 24.2 grams of cocaine, 122.4 grams of cutting agent (used to dilute cocaine for sale) and five grams of meth.

Cheater wasn’t clear on whether the 24.2 grams was in addition to the previously noted powder on the table and in other items.

The accused who applied for bail on Tuesday — the man said to have been passed out on the couch — is charged with possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking.

He is also pending on an assault in April in which it’s alleged a man was beaten at the Redwood Inn by two others armed with brass knuckles.

Cheater said that following the August drug bust police released the accused against the Crown’s wishes.

He was arrested again on Oct. 7, when he was found at the Keystone Motor Inn as he appeared to be in breach of his release order by drinking.

Ryan Christopher Lee Johnson, 23, will appear in court again today.

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