Maple Ridge News, December 12, 2012

Page 1

B.C. Views Clean LNG can still be done. p6

Solutions suggested for bus routes. p3

THE NEws

Arts&life Vibrant Colours of the Season. p25

www.mapleridgenews.com wednesday, December 12, 2012 · Serving Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows · est. 1978 · 604-467-1122 · 50¢

Daycare sex assault charges dropped Counts stayed against husband of Dragonfly operator by M on i sh a M ar ti n s staff reporter

Colleen Flanagan/the newS

Family photo Isaac Hamilton, 3, poses with his mother Caitlin during a session with photographer Stephanie Mitchell for Help Portrait at St. Andrew’s Haney United Church on Saturday. See story, p4.

The husband of a woman who ran a Maple Ridge daycare is no longer facing charges for sexually assaulting a young girl. A trial for Edgar Hernandez was set to begin Monday, but did not proceed as charges were stayed two months earlier. Hernandez, 48, faced one count each of sexual interference and sexual assault in connection with an alleged offence that took place around Dec. 1, 2009. Police allege Hernandez touched a young girl inappropriately at Dragonfly Daycare, operated out of his Maple Ridge home. See Charges, p5

Gun registry aids search warrant Owner of eight guns has ties to gangs, drug dealers by M o ni s ha M a r tin s staff reporter

A Maple Ridge man who police spotted hanging out with gang members and drug dealers is now facing a ban on owning guns. An application filed in Port Coquitlam Provincial Court seeks the firearms prohibition on grounds

of public safety as Ridge Meadows RCMP believe it’s too dangerous for Brad Hall to possess guns, or any prohibited weapon. Hall, 37, came to the attention of Mounties in August after they received several complaints from his neighbours about “suspicious activity.” In an application for a search warrant, police detail the neighbours’ concerns. They include complaints about “lots of late night activity,” people coming and going from the home, and notes about a

skinny blonde woman living with Hall who they believed was selling drugs. The complaints prompted police to begin an investigation that included undercover surveillance. In the search warrant application, Const. Steve Auger wrote on Aug. 16 that police saw two men leave a car and walk to Hall’s townhome on 118th Street. When police ran the licence plate of the SUV the men arrived in, they learned it was registered to a man they allege is a “mid-level

Index

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drug trafficker in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows,” known as ‘The Russian.’ On Sept. 5, police saw another man leave Hall’s townhouse complex and when they ran the plates of the Ford F-150 he was driving, the officer found the truck linked to Joseph Markel, a former gang member. Markel was killed in gang-style shooting three days later in Port Moody. On Sept. 20, Const. Zaheer Abdulla spotted another black pickup

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truck pull up outside Hall’s home. That truck was registered to a woman “known to be Markel’s girlfriend,” according to the warrant. A week later, another RCMP officer spoke to a confidential source, who police wrote “is known to be reliable.” That source revealed Hall had rifles in his residence. Const. Auger also noted that two firearms owned by Hall had been found in a drug stash house in May, months before neighbours began complaining about him.

See Search, p18

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