A Burnaby Mountie who arrested a robbery suspect after entering his home without a warrant seriously violated the man’s charter rights and endangered himself and a fellow officer, according to a B.C. Provincial Court judge.
Two robberies
Liam Reilly, then 19 years old, was suspected in two armed robberies in November 2017, one at an Edmonds-area e-cigarette store called Boss Vapes, and the other at the Deer Lake Market at Burris Street and Walker Avenue, according to court documents.
A man arrested on Nov. 17, 2017 in Langley in relation to the Boss Vapes robbery had identified Reilly as one of his accomplices.
His also told them where he lived.
Arrest plan
Reilly was already under a court order at the time compelling him to present himself at his door to officers checking to make sure he was abiding by a 7 p.m.-to-6 a.m. curfew, so police planned to make him present himself and arrest him at his door.
On Nov. 17, shortly after 8 p.m., Burnaby RCMP Const. Bryce Sinclair and Metro Vancouver Transit Police Const. Kreshnik Adzijaj knocked on a sliding glass door at the back of Reilly’s home and told him to open up for the police.
They got no answer but heard music playing and a dog barking inside.
Then, without consulting Adzijaj or any senior officer, Sinclair tried the sliding glass door, found it unlocked and went inside, according to court documents.
“Const. Adzijaj had no notice that Const. Sinclair was going to unilaterally change the arrest plan,” states a Dec. 24 ruling by B.C. Provincial Court Judge Gregory Rideout. “(Adzijaj) testified that he became very nervous and fearful, thinking, ‘I hope this doesn’t go south.’” Despite knowing one of Reilly’s co-accused had informed police Reilly would be willing to shoot a cop, Sinclair went directly to a door he believed accessed Reilly’s suite and knocked on it, saying “Police.”
When Reilly opened the door, Sinclair asked him for identification, but, before he could comply, the six-foot-four, 235-pound Mountie “kind of wrapped him up” to prevent Reilly from “reaching for any guns or weapons,” according to statements by Sinclair quoted in the court ruling.
Skeleton mask
After the arrest, police conducted a brief “clearing search” of the residence, with the “sole intention” of seeing whether there was anyone else in the residence that might have access to firearms, Adzijaj told the court.
During that search, however, one officer spotted a black skeleton mask, of a kind witnesses had reported one of the robbers wearing. Witnesses said the man had brandished a silver handgun and pointed it at one Boss Vapes cashier’s face.
Police returned with a search warrant the next day and seized the mask and other evidence linking Reilly to the robberies.
This past December, however, Reilly applied to have that evidence deemed inadmissible because police would have had insufficient support for the warrant unless they had first entered his home without a warrant.
Rideout agreed Reilly’s charter rights had been violated by the police, but ruled there had been cause enough for the search warrant without relying on what police spotted in their brief, warrantless “clearing search.”
As for Sinclair, who had been a Mountie for three years at the time of the incident, Rideout said his actions constituted a “serious violation” of Reilly’s rights and endangered both himself and Adzijaj.
Aside from Sinclair, though, Rideout said police at the scene had conducted themselves in a “professional manner.”
And even Sinclair’s conduct during the arrest had not been “inhumane or degrading,” according to Rideout.
The judge also ruled Sinclair had not had the approval, “either implicitly or expressly, of a senior officer.”
If he had, his charter-infringing conduct would have been more serious, according to Rideout, and likely led the judge to rule the evidence obtained in the search inadmissible.
“I do not find that Const. Sinclair’s conduct is indicative of a pattern of systemic or institutional police disregard of constitutional rights,” Rideout said.
‘Split-second decisions’
Meanwhile, Reilly was found guilty earlier this month on two counts each of robbery, using an imitation firearm to commit an offence and disguising his face to commit an offence.
He is scheduled to be sentenced in June.
Burnaby RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Daniela Panesar told the NOW the Burnaby RCMP is reviewing Rideout’s ruling and “any concerns raised will be addressed with the members involved.”
“Each and every day our police officers make split-second decisions,” Panesar said in an emailed statement. “In coming to these decisions, they are aware that these decisions will ultimately be assessed and tested by a court of law and/or oversight agencies. In this instance, it is important to note that, despite the concerns of the judge, the evidence obtained in the investigation of this very serious crime was ruled admissible.”
