Two of three men charged with assaulting a Vancouver police officer Tuesday are sons of an original member of the East End Hells Angels, Postmedia has learned.

A Vancouver police officer was taken to hospital Tuesday night after he was beaten during a routine traffic stop in downtown Vancouver.

It happened at around 10 p.m. when two plainclothes officers pulled over a Dodge Durango on Robson Street after they spotted travelling through an area of Granville Street closed to private vehicles.

The VPD says the three men in the vehicle, all in their early 20s and well-known to the police, were confrontational and verbally abusive during the traffic stop.

“The officers became concerned for their safety as the occupants refused to follow police direction and began reaching under the seat,” VPD spokesman Sgt. Jason Robillard said in a news release.

The assault began when one officer opened the passenger door and the front passenger pulled him into the vehicle and two men began punching him in the face. As the other officer rushed to help, all three men got out of the vehicle and continued to assault the officers.

While the officers were waiting for backup to arrive, one of the three men ran away and was hit by a pickup truck as he crossed an intersection against a red light.

The man continued to run for two more blocks before being arrested by the uninjured officer, who was giving chase.

“This is an example of the risk all police officers face as they work to protect the citizens they serve. This sort of incident affects the entire policing community,” said Robillard. “We wish our officer a speedy recovery and will ensure the officer and his family have the support they need.”

Troy Michael Robinson, born in 1996, and his brother Brendan John Robinson, born in 1997, both of West Vancouver, were arrested Tuesday by Vancouver police after fleeing the scene of the assault.

Both are sons of Lloyd Robinson, who retired from the Hells Angels several years ago.

The elder Robinson is the half-brother of John Bryce, the president of the East End chapter of the notorious biker gang.

Lloyd Robinson left the HA after a major undercover investigation in which police agent Micheal Plante infiltrated the gang by getting close to him.

Both Troy and Brendan Robinson are charged with assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest along with a third man, Brian Benjamin Allen, of Victoria.

Allen is also charged with possession of stolen property worth under $5,000.

The three men currently remain in custody.

Troy and Brendan’s brother, Lloyd Robinson Jr., was convicted in 2014 of assaulting a taxi driver and breaking his nose and eye sockets. He was sentenced to 16 months in jail.

In a video of Tuesday’s incident posted to YouTube, a witness, who claims to have assisted in the arrest, can be heard questioning the arresting officer’s use of force.

“That dude kicked him in the stomach pretty hard for no reason,” the man said while pointing at the officer.

“He severely assaulted my partner and he is combative,” responded the officer.

Warning: Video contains crude language and violence

The VPD said the man who ran from the scene was lucky not to have been seriously injured. He was examined at hospital and released.

The injured police officer, meanwhile, is recovering at home.

“The injuries are to the head and face, and we consider them to be substantial injuries,” said Robillard.

Robillard was asked at a Thursday media conference if the officers, who were dressed in plainclothes, properly identified themselves as the police.

“These officers in this particular case were in plainclothes. They did pull this vehicle over with their emergency lights on their vehicle, they did identify themselves as police officers, and there is no doubt in my mind that the three occupants in the vehicle knew they were police officers — just from comments made and evidence I read,” he said.

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My colleague Scott Brown had written a story about the beating of a Vancouver Police officer after a Durango was pulled over on Robson Oct. 9.

Then I heard from a source that two of those charged are the sons of original East End chapter Hells Angel Lloyd Robinson so added in those details to Scott’s report.

Here’s our story:

Sons of original East End Hells Angel linked to assault of

Vancouver police officer

Two of three men charged with assaulting a Vancouver police officer Tuesday are sons of an original member of the East End Hells Angels, Postmedia has learned.

A Vancouver police officer was taken to hospital Tuesday night after he was beaten during a routine traffic stop in downtown Vancouver.

It happened at around 10 p.m. when two plainclothes officers pulled over a Dodge Durango on Robson Street after they spotted travelling through an area of Granville Street closed to private vehicles.

The VPD says the three men in the vehicle, all in their early 20s and well-known to the police, were confrontational and verbally abusive during the traffic stop.

“The officers became concerned for their safety as the occupants refused to follow police direction and began reaching under the seat,” VPD spokesman Sgt. Jason Robillard said in a news release.

The assault began when one officer opened the passenger door and the front passenger pulled him into the vehicle and two men began punching him in the face. As the other officer rushed to help, all three men got out of the vehicle and continued to assault the officers.

While the officers were waiting for backup to arrive, one of the three men ran away and was hit by a pickup truck as he crossed an intersection against a red light.

The man continued to run for two more blocks before being arrested by the uninjured officer, who was giving chase.

“This is an example of the risk all police officers face as they work to protect the citizens they serve. This sort of incident affects the entire policing community,” said Robillard. “We wish our officer a speedy recovery and will ensure the officer and his family have the support they need.”

Troy Michael Robinson, born in 1996, and his brother Brendan John Robinson, born in 1997, both of West Vancouver, were arrested Tuesday by Vancouver police after fleeing the scene of the assault.

Both are sons of Lloyd Robinson, who retired from the Hells Angels several years ago.

The elder Robinson is the half-brother of John Bryce, the president of the East End chapter of the notorious biker gang.

Lloyd Robinson left the HA after a major undercover investigation in which police agent Micheal Plante infiltrated the gang by getting close to him.

Both Troy and Brendan Robinson are charged with assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest along with a third man, Brian Benjamin Allen, of Victoria.

Allen is also charged with possession of stolen property worth under $5,000.

Troy and Brendan’s brother, Lloyd Robinson Jr., was convicted in 2014 of assaulting a taxi driver and breaking his nose and eye sockets . He was sentenced to 16 months in jail.

In a video of Tuesday’s incident posted to YouTube, a witness, who claims to have assisted in the arrest, can be heard questioning the arresting officer’s use of force.

“That dude kicked him in the stomach pretty hard for no reason,” the man said while pointing at the officer.

“He severely assaulted my partner and he is combative,” responded the officer.

Warning: Video contains crude language and violence

The VPD said the man who ran from the scene was lucky not to have been seriously injured. He was check in hospital and released.

The injured police officer, meanwhile, is recovering at home.

“The injuries are to the head and face, and we consider them to be substantial injuries,” said Robillard.

Robillard was asked at a Thursday media conference if the officers, who were dressed in plainclothes, properly identified themselves as the police.

“These officers in this particular case were in plainclothes. They did pull this vehicle over with their emergency lights on their vehicle, they did identify themselves as police officers, and there is no doubt in my mind that the three occupants in the vehicle knew they were police officers — just from comments made and evidence I read,” he said.

The B.C. director of civil forfeiture has filed a suit against a limousine owner after he allegedly sexually assaulted a woman inside the vehicle last month.

The suit, filed this week at the Victoria Law Courts, says Sukhwinder Bassarpuri is likely to use the limousine to commit further crimes if it is returned to him. The government wants the vehicle forfeited.

The civil forfeiture office says Bassarpuri owns Armani Limousine Inc. and is the operator of the 2007 Lincoln Navigator seized by Vancouver Police last month.

“On Sept. 8, 2018, the VPD received a report of a female forcibly confined within the vehicle at a parking lot in the 600-block of Denman Street,” the lawsuit says.

Officers found the vehicle and “determined the female was incapable of providing consent to engage in sexual contact. The VPD determined that Mr. Bassarpuri had sexually assaulted the female,” the court document says.

Bassarpuri has not been charged. Nor has he yet filed a statement of defence in the case against the civil forfeiture office. According to the online provincial court database, he has no criminal charges or convictions in B.C.

Vancouver Police media officer Const. Jason Doucette said Wednesday that he was unable to comment on whether there is an open investigation into the allegations. He said police never comment on sexual assault cases unless and until someone is charged.

The civil forfeiture suit said that VPD officers “arrested Mr. Bassarpuri for sexual assault” and then searched the limousine.

They found bear spray, clear baggies that tested positive for cocaine, two razor blades and a hotel key card that also tested positive for cocaine, the suit says.

The director of civil forfeiture said Bassarpuri has a history of unlawful activity, including a sexual assault of a female passenger in a limousine he was operating in July 2013.

And “on April 27, 2018, the VPD was advised Mr. Bassarpuri had sexually assaulted a female in June of 2017,” the suit says.

It also alleged he drove the limo without a chauffeur’s permit or proper licensing from the Passenger Transportation Board.

“The vehicle has been used by Mr. Bassarpuri to engage in unlawful activities which … were likely to cause serious bodily harm,” the director said.

In addition to sexual assault and forcible confinement, the director alleges Bassarpuri possessed cocaine, violated the Motor Vehicle Act, and failed to declare taxable income.

Armani Limousine was recently incorporated on Aug. 18, 2018, according to the B.C. Corporate Registry. The business lists its address as 708 Davie St. — about a block from where the civil suit alleges the sex assault occurred.

But the address listed is a pizza parlour. Someone answering the phone there Thursday said they had nothing to do with the limo company and that it was “the wrong number.”

Court records indicate that Bassarpuri was a driver for another limousine company in 2013 when he was involved in an accident in downtown Vancouver that resulted in a civil suit. And he filed a lawsuit for a December 2016 accident in Vancouver that he alleged was the fault of the other driver. In that suit, Bassarpuri says he owned a company called Encore Limousine Inc. Corporate records show the company, was started in 2014, was dissolved in 2017 for failing to file an annual report.

Bassarpuri could not be reached for comment.

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A 30-year-old Surrey man was shot to death in a targeted murder Thursday afternoon.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said the victim, Sumeet Randhawa, was known to police.

IHIT media officer, Detective Lara Jansen, said Surrey RCMP was called to the 6700-block of 130th Street just before 2 p.m.

“Responding members located the victim and attempted life-saving measures until the B.C. Ambulance Service and Surrey Fire Department took over, however the male succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased at scene,” she said.

She said IHIT is working closely with the Surrey RCMP Serious Crime Unit, the Lower Mainland Integrated Forensic Identification Services and the B.C. Coroners Service to gather evidence.

“This is believed to be a targeted incident related to the ongoing Lower Mainland gang conflict,” Jansen said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact IHIT at 1-877-551-4448 or ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.

The shooting comes eight after the murder of young Abbotsford gangster Varinderpal Gill, 19, who was killed in his vehicle beside a Mission mall.

Police agencies across the country are ready for the legalization of recreational cannabis this week, Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer said Monday.

Palmer, speaking as president of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, said enforcement of the new rules surrounding marijuana will be shared by police, municipal bylaw officers and provincial regulators depending on the circumstances involved.

As of Wednesday, if you smoke pot in a city park or on school property, you could get ticketed by a municipal bylaw officer.

If you drive impaired after using cannabis, expect to be stopped by police and face the same consequences that a drunk driver would.

If you are selling cannabis without a licence, a provincial government investigator might target you.

“Every situation is quite different and we’ve got to kind of feel out the landscape as we go forward because it is not a black and white thing that police are just doing this, the community safety units are doing this, the bylaw officers are doing that,” Palmer told journalists at a Vancouver news conference. “We have to all get used to how this new regime is going to work.”

Palmer said he doesn’t expect any big immediate crackdown by police against cannabis businesses that don’t yet have provincial licences.

“October 17 is going to come, then October 18, and then October 19,” he said. “You are probably not going to see a whole big change with regard to what the police are doing or anyone else is doing.”

He said Canadians should be aware “that different infractions involve difference agencies and different response times depending on the risk to public safety.”

And that means police will continue to target high-level organized criminals involved in cannabis production, smuggling or black market sales, Palmer said.

“We know organized crime will attempt to capitalize on the legalization of cannabis. On this front, the (association of police chiefs) supports any initiative that dissuades Canadians from turning to the black market to obtain cannabis,” he said.

“We’re doing everything we can to stop organized crime from becoming involved in both the medical and recreational marijuana industries.”

Palmer said the new regulatory regime will provide clearer guidelines on how to deal with storefront sellers such as those that have been operating in Vancouver in “a grey area” for years.

“As far as cannabis dispensaries or stores, that is going to be an interesting one and that will vary across the country,” he said. “Here in Vancouver, we do have a high percentage of cannabis stores compared to other places in the country. So now that law will actually become clearer and it will assist us in that regard.”

Palmer said that while “the legal recreational use of cannabis will be new for Canadians come Wednesday, enforcing laws around impaired driving and the illegal production, distribution and consumption of cannabis will not be new to police.”

While some policing agencies like the VPD have decided against using the federally approved Drager DrugTest 5000 to test drivers suspected of cannabis impairment, Palmer said there are other effective roadside tests.

Across Canada, there are currently 13,000 officers trained in standard field sobriety. Another 7,000 are expected to be trained in the next few years. And there are 833 certified drug recognition experts with another 500 in training, Palmer said.

But he also said police will still have higher priorities than enforcing new cannabis laws.

“Marijuana is important, but it is not the most important thing going on in the country right now. Fentanyl, for example, kills 11 Canadians a day. Marijuana certainly doesn’t. There are more pressing issues going on in public safety.”

Palmer said the public should also understand that “not all issues or concerns related to the legalization of cannabis can or will be resolved on day one or in one day.”

“Police will continue to respond to emergencies and imminent public safety issues, but enforcing the new laws and regulations will be an ongoing process involving a phased approach over weeks, months, and years. The police are ready to adapt based on experience, lessons learned, and the actual reality in each of our communities.”

kbolan@postmedia.com

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twitter.com/kbolan

The B.C. government will have a team of 44 special constables around the province to investigate unlicensed cannabis stores.

But no enforcement action is expected until more licensed stores are opened, a spokesman for the B.C. Public Safety Ministry said Wednesday.

Colin Hynes said hiring of the special constables, known as the community safety unit, began in the summer and many of the officers are now in place. The unit is part of the Public Safety Ministry, while the expanded liquor and cannabis regulation branch is under the Ministry of the Attorney General.

“The CSU hopes to achieve voluntary compliance through education and outreach. Illegal sellers who do not come into compliance, either by obtaining a provincial retail licence or by ceasing their operations, may be subject to enforcement action, which may include seizure of product, administrative monetary penalties and/or prosecution,” Hynes said in a statement.

“Illegal sellers will not be shut down over night.  But as legal retail stores open up across the province, there will be increasing enforcement action to close any illegal retailers that remain.”

Earlier this week, Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer, president of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, said enforcement of new cannabis laws will be shared between police agencies and different levels of government.

Municipal bylaw officers are expected to ticket people caught using cannabis in banned areas like parks or school grounds.

Provincial regulators will look after licensing stores and investigators those operating without licences.

And police will continued to crack down on drivers impaired by either alcohol or drugs, as well as investigating any organized crime involvement in cannabis production, distribution or smuggling.

RCMP officers in B.C. are also ready for Wednesday’s changes, Sgt. Janelle Shoihet said.

“We have the tools and resources in place, including officer training, on new cannabis legislation,” Shoihet said.

“The RCMP in British Columbia has increased its capacity in the areas of prevention and engagement, intelligence, training, systems modifications and data collection, security screening, operational policy, and to provide subject-matter expertise to RCMP officers and law enforcement partners on the implementation of the Cannabis Act.”

She said the force has “officers who are drug recognition experts and officers who are trained to do the standard field sobriety testing to identify and remove impaired drivers from our roads.”

“While the legal recreational use of cannabis may be new, the enforcement of laws around the illegal production, distribution and consumption of cannabis as well as drug-impaired driving is not new to the police,” she said.

Hynes said violations of the provincial cannabis law could be prosecuted in court.

“But in many cases, they are dealt with by violation ticket.  Examples of provincial offences that can be dealt with by violation ticket include smoking cannabis in places where it is prohibited, possession of more than 30 grams of cannabis in public, and transporting cannabis in a car that is in an open package and accessible to the driver and passengers,” he said.

Many of the offences listed in provincial legislation are also criminal offences under the federal Cannabis Act, he said.

kbolan@postmedia.com
twitter.com/kbolan

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team hopes the public can identify suspects in a Surrey murder captured last week on video surveillance footage.

Cpl. Frank Jang said Wednesday that detectives obtained the video after canvassing the neighbourhood where Sumeet Randhawa was shot and killed  Oct. 11.

Stolen Hummer used in murder of Sumeet Randhawa Oct. 11, 2018

The video shows a Hummer H3 arriving in the 6700-block of 129 Street shortly after 2:00 p.m. in tandem with what investigators believe to be a 2012 to 2014 blue Ford Focus.

“An unknown person then exited the driver’s seat of the Hummer H3 and got into the passenger side of the blue Ford Focus before it left the area,” Jang said in a news release.

Minutes after the murder,  police found an abandoned and stolen black Hummer H3 with Washington state license plates in the same block where Randhawa was killed.

“We believe that this video surveillance footage captured those responsible for the murder of Sumeet Randhawa,”  Jang said.  “We urge anyone with information about the individuals and vehicles seen in the video surveillance footage, to come forward to IHIT immediately.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact IHIT 1-877-551-4448 or ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.

The gun violence across the Lower Mainland continued Thursday with a targeted murder in Abbotsford.

Sgt. Judy Bird, of the Abbotsford Police Department, said in a news released that police received reports of shots fired in front of a business in the 32000-block of South Fraser Way about 6:43 p.m. Thursday.

“Upon arrival, officers located a deceased male,” she said. “We are in the early stages of this investigation; however, the initial indications suggest this appears to be a targeted incident.”

Abby PD major crime investigators are on the scene, but the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team has been called in to take over the file.

Anyone with information should contact IHIT at 1-877-551-4448 or ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca

MORE TO COME…

The man shot to death in Abbotsford on Thursday evening is the elder brother of Gavin Grewal, the gang leader murdered in his penthouse apartment last December, Postmedia News has learned.

Mandeep Grewal was gunned down outside the front door of a bank in the 32000-block of South Fraser Way about 6:43 p.m.

Grewal was not believed to be involved in the ongoing gang conflict, but could have been targeted as retribution for murders linked to his brother’s gang — the Brothers’ Keepers.

Gavin, and another brother Manbir, have both been the subject of public warnings by police because of their involvement in the regional gang war.

Cpl. Frank Jang of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said police are hoping to obtain dash-cam video from drivers near the shooting scene.

“A dark-coloured vehicle left the area of the shooting at a high rate of speed,” Jang said.

A grey Infiniti sedan was found burning in the 6600-block of 238 St. in Langley about 15 minutes later.

IHIT believes the murder of Gavinder Grewal, 30, was a targeted hit. Grewal was shot dead Dec. 22, 2017 in a residence in the 1500 block of Fern Street in North Vancouver.

“This vehicle is believed to be associated to the earlier shooting. Drivers with dash-cam video who passed through this area at this time are asked to contact IHIT immediately,” Jang said.

“This was a brazen shooting in a public area. We are fortunate that no one else was harmed.”

He added, “our victim was targeted for murder and this incident is linked to the ongoing gang conflict in the Lower Mainland.”

Sgt. Brenda Winpenny of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit said CFSEU is working with its partner agencies around the region to combat the gunplay.

“We are obviously seeing an escalation in the tit-for-tat violence in association to the conflict between the rival gang groups,” Winpenny said Friday.

Related

• Mom of Red Scorpion gangster still devastated nine years after son's murder
• Gang murders linked to internal disputes, conflicts in prison
• Fatal flashpoint: Gurmit Dhak's 2010 murder ignited a gang war that's still raging

“The public should take necessary steps to ensure that they are being vigilant in their personal safety and being aware of their surroundings because obviously these guys have no regard for public safety.”

Mandeep Grewal’s murder came almost a year after Randy Kang was shot to death in Surrey last Oct. 27 — a killing blamed on the Brothers’ Keepers that was part of a series of shootings throughout Metro Vancouver.

Gavin Grewal was murdered in North Vancouver on Dec. 22, 2017. No one has yet been charged, although police released surveillance video last June of possible suspects.

Police earlier told Postmedia that the Brothers’ Keepers had links to the Red Scorpion gang, but split into different factions that were in conflict with each other. Gavin Grewal led one group and the Kang brothers were associates-turned-rivals.

Several people linked to the Kangs and the Red Scorpions were arrested in August after a lengthy Vancouver Police Department investigation and charged with trafficking, possession of firearms and other counts.

In addition to their internal conflict, the former allies have also been battling other drug traffickers aligned with the United Nations gang and associates in the Fraser Valley.

Varinderpal Singh Gill, 19, was shot to death in Mission Oct. 3, 2018

October has been a busy month for homicide investigators.

On Oct. 11, Sumeet Randhawa, 30, was shot to death in the 6700-block of 130 St. in Surrey.

On Oct. 4, 27-year-old Kyle Cromarty was murdered on Yale Road in Chilliwack.

A day earlier, Abbotsford resident Varinderpal Gill, 19, was gunned down inside his vehicle in Mission.

Gill’s murder is believed to have been in retaliation for the shooting death of 19-year-old Gagandeep Singh Dhaliwal in Abbotsford on Aug. 4.

Another Brothers’ Keeper gangster Matthew Alexander Navas-Rivas was shot to death in East Vancouver on July 25.

Anyone with information about the latest murders is asked to contact IHIT at 1-877-551-4448, or ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.

kbolan@postmedia.com

Related

• Mom of Red Scorpion gangster still devastated nine years after son's murder
• Gang murders linked to internal disputes, conflicts in prison
• Fatal flashpoint: Gurmit Dhak's 2010 murder ignited a gang war that's still raging

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Mandeep Grewal had no criminal record and was not involved in the gang life his two younger brothers Gavin and Manbir had chosen. But he still ended up a victim of deadly gun violence. He was shot to death in Abbotsford Thursday night.

Here’s my story:

Abbotsford murder victim was brother of gang boss

slain last December

The man shot to death in Abbotsford on Thursday evening is the elder brother of Gavin Grewal, the gang leader murdered in his penthouse apartment last December, Postmedia News has learned.

Mandeep Grewal was gunned down outside the front door of a bank in the 32000-block of South Fraser Way about 6:43 p.m.

Grewal was not believed to be involved in the ongoing gang conflict, but could have been targeted as retribution for murders linked to his brother’s gang — the Brothers’ Keepers.

Gavin, and another brother Manbir, have both been the subject of public warnings by police because of their involvement in the regional gang war.

Cpl. Frank Jang of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said police are hoping to obtain dash-cam video from drivers near the shooting scene.

“A dark-coloured vehicle left the area of the shooting at a high rate of speed,” Jang said.

A grey Infiniti sedan was found burning in the 6600-block of 238 St. in Langley about 15 minutes later.

“This vehicle is believed to be associated to the earlier shooting. Drivers with dash-cam video who passed through this area at this time are asked to contact IHIT immediately,” Jang said.

“This was a brazen shooting in a public area. We are fortunate that no one else was harmed.”

He added, “our victim was targeted for murder and this incident is linked to the ongoing gang conflict in the Lower Mainland.”

Gavinder Grewal is shown in this undated police handout photo.

Sgt. Brenda Winpenny of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit said CFSEU is working with its partner agencies around the region to combat the gunplay.

“We are obviously seeing an escalation in the tit-for-tat violence in association to the conflict between the rival gang groups,” Winpenny said Friday.

“The public should take necessary steps to ensure that they are being vigilant in their personal safety and being aware of their surroundings because obviously these guys have no regard for public safety.”

Mandeep Grewal’s murder came almost a year after Randy Kang was shot to death in Surrey last Oct. 27 — a killing blamed on the Brothers’ Keepers that was part of a series of shootings throughout Metro Vancouver.

Gavin Grewal was murdered in North Vancouver on Dec. 22, 2017. No one has yet been charged, although police released surveillance video last June of possible suspects.

Police earlier told Postmedia that the Brothers’ Keepers had links to the Red Scorpion gang, but split into different factions that were in conflict with each other. Gavin Grewal led one group and the Kang brothers were associates-turned-rivals.

Several people linked to the Kangs and the Red Scorpions were arrested in August after a lengthy Vancouver Police Department investigation and charged with trafficking, possession of firearms and other counts.

In addition to their internal conflict, the former allies have also been battling other drug traffickers aligned with the United Nations gang and associates in the Fraser Valley.

October has been a busy month for homicide investigators.

On Oct. 11, Sumeet Randhawa, 30, was shot to death in the 6700-block of 130 St. in Surrey.

On Oct. 4, 27-year-old Kyle Cromarty was murdered on Yale Road in Chilliwack.

A day earlier, Abbotsford resident Varinderpal Gill, 19, was gunned down inside his vehicle in Mission.

Gill’s murder is believed to have been in retaliation for the shooting death of 19-year-old Gagandeep Singh Dhaliwal in Abbotsford on Aug. 4.

Another Brothers’ Keeper gangster Matthew Alexander Navas-Rivas was shot to death in East Vancouver on July 25.

Anyone with information about the latest murders is asked to contact IHIT at 1-877-551-4448, or ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.

kbolan@postmedia.com

An alleged Vancouver Island drug trafficker acquitted earlier this year because police violated his Charter rights is now the subject of a civil forfeiture lawsuit.

The director of civil forfeiture filed the suit against Mill Bay resident Frank Whitton last week, trying to get more than $18,000 seized from him during a 2014 investigation forfeited to the government agency.

Last April, a B.C. Supreme Court judge acquitted Whitton on drug trafficking and firearms offences, saying West Shore RCMP had breached his constitutional rights several times during their investigation.

Justice Brian MacKenzie also said there was “little doubt” that Whitton was in fact involved in drug trafficking despite the botched investigation that resulted in the evidence being thrown out.

MacKenzie ruled that to use the evidence seized after police omitted information from their search warrant applications “would bring the administration of justice into disrepute.”

“The overall manner in which the evidence in support of the warrant was presented in this case raises significant concerns respecting the basis upon which the warrant was obtained,” MacKenzie said. “After considering the totality of the circumstances and the overall magnitude of the Charter violations in this case, I have been persuaded that the admission of the evidence found as a result of the … searches would bring the administration of justice into disrepute.”

In an earlier ruling, MacKenzie also said that police violated Whitton’s rights when he was first arrested in April 2014.

The same evidence excluded in the criminal case is cited in the lawsuit by the director of civil forfeiture, filed Oct. 18.

The suit said Whitton was stopped by police on April 24, 2014, “after making several suspected illegal drug transactions.”

Police found 66 spitballs of cocaine, 18 baggies of marijuana and three cell phones in his vehicle, the suit noted.

Later that day, police executed a search warrant at his Mill Bay house and found 331 marijuana plants and 5,346 grams of dried marijuana in bags. They also found an SKS rifle, a restricted Sig Sauer 9 mm handgun, a prohibited 27-round magazine, ammunition, pepper spray and body armour.

More marijuana, cocaine, heroin and cash was found at a second residence searched that Whitton had been seen visiting.

Whitton was arrested again in November 2014 and police found more cocaine and pot packaged for sale, as well as more than $5,000 cash.

The lawsuit said that Whitton filed a “notice of dispute” on Sept. 28, 2018, claiming an interest in the money seized four years earlier.

But the director said the cash should not be returned to him, as it is “proceeds and an instrument of unlawful activity.”

“Mr. Whitton did not have legitimate income to have acquired the money,” the suit said. “Mr. Whitton obtained the money by participating in the unlawful activity.”

Whitton has not yet filed a response to the lawsuit.

In the April ruling that resulted in Whitton’s acquittal, MacKenzie also said the public would lose confidence in the judiciary “if criminal trials are permitted to proceed on the strength of evidence obtained from the most private place in the home on the basis of misleading, inaccurate, and incomplete information upon which a search warrant was issued.”

“Justice is blind in the sense that it pays no heed to the social status or personal characteristics of the litigants,” MacKenzie said. “But justice receives a black eye when it turns a blind eye to unconstitutional searches and seizures as a result of unacceptable police conduct or practices.”

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

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A high-profile Hells Angels is trying to get released on bail after being charged earlier this year with conspiracy to murder two rival gangsters in 2012.

A three-day hearing began in B.C. Supreme Court on Wednesday to determine whether Larry Amero, 41, will be released into the community pending his trial. Evidence and submissions made during the hearing at the Vancouver Law Courts are covered by a routine ban on publication.

Amero, a member of the West Point chapter of the notorious biker gang, appeared in red prison garb, wearing horn-rimmed glasses, his hair long tied in a ponytail.

He flipped through a folder of documents during the proceedings, held before Justice Brenda Brown in a high-security courtroom.

Some of Amero’s family members sat in the public gallery, as did two police officers.

Hells Angel Larry Ronald Amero in file photo

Amero was arrested in Ottawa in January and brought back to B.C. on charges that he plotted to kill Sandip Duhre and Sukh Dhak.

Duhre was shot to death in the Sheraton Wall Centre in downtown Vancouver on Jan. 17, 2012. Dhak was gunned down outside the Executive Hotel in Burnaby on Nov. 26, 2012.

Amero was seriously wounded in the Aug. 14, 2011 shooting in Kelowna that left Red Scorpion gangster Jonathan Bacon dead and Independent Soldier James Riach uninjured.

Sukh Dhak was gunned down outside the Executive Hotel in Burnaby on Nov. 26, 2012.

At the time, The Vancouver Sun reported the trio had formed a new gang alliance called the Wolf Pack.

The Kelowna trial of three gangsters who pleaded guilty last May to playing roles in the 2011 shooting heard that Dhak was one of the masterminds of the plot.

The Kelowna trial also heard that Amero was shot in the face, wrist and chest as he, Bacon, Riach and two women were driving away from the Delta Grande Hotel in a Porsche Cayenne after a weekend of boating and partying in the Okanagan city.

On Wednesday, Amero showed no obvious outward signs of the injuries he suffered seven years ago.

Paramedics tend to Larry Amero at the scene of Jonathan Bacon’s murder.

The Sun earlier reported that Amero was arrested in Montreal in November 2012 and charged in a major cocaine smuggling case. He remained in pretrial custody in Quebec until his charges were stayed in 2017 after his lawyer successfully argued that the case took too long to get to trial.

Amero has worked as a longshoreman in B.C. and even sponsored a fellow Hells Angel for membership in his union while in custody back east.

Also charged in connection with the Duhre and Dhak murders are Rabih (Robby) Alkhalil and Dean Wiwchar. Both men remain in custody.

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

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I was in court Monday for the resumption of the civil trial between the Hells Angels and the director of civil forfeiture, who wants three biker clubhouses forfeited to the government. The case was caught up in some motions and applications so nothing worth writing a story about just yet. But I will continue to follow it through the fall as more witnesses are called.

And I was back at B.C. Supreme Court Wednesday as a bail hearing for Hells Angel Larry Amero began. Due to a ban, I couldn’t report specifics of the information that came out in court, but have written a short story. I will be allowed to report on whether or not he gets bail, but not on the judges’ reasons either way.

Here’s my story:

A high-profile Hells Angel is trying to get released on bail after being charged earlier this year with conspiracy to murder two rival gangsters in 2012.

A three-day hearing began in B.C. Supreme Court on Wednesday to determine whether Larry Amero, 41, will be released into the community pending his trial. Evidence and submissions made during the hearing at the Vancouver Law Courts are covered by a routine ban on publication.

Amero, a member of the West Point chapter of the notorious biker gang, appeared in red prison garb, wearing horn-rimmed glasses, his hair long and tied in a ponytail.

He flipped through a folder of documents during the proceedings, held before Justice Brenda Brown in a high-security courtroom.

Some of Amero’s family members sat in the public gallery, as did two police officers.

Amero was arrested in Ottawa in January and brought back to B.C. on charges that he plotted to kill Sandip Duhre and Sukh Dhak.

Duhre was shot to death in the Sheraton Wall Centre in downtown Vancouver on Jan. 17, 2012. Dhak was gunned down outside the Executive Hotel in Burnaby on Nov. 26, 2012.

Amero was seriously wounded in the Aug. 14, 2011, shooting in Kelowna that left Red Scorpion gangster Jonathan Bacon dead and Independent Soldier James Riach uninjured.

At the time, The Vancouver Sun reported the trio had formed a new gang alliance called the Wolf Pack.

The Kelowna trial of three gangsters who pleaded guilty last May to playing roles in the 2011 shooting heard that Dhak was one of the masterminds of the plot.

The Kelowna trial also heard that Amero was shot in the face, wrist and chest as he, Bacon, Riach and two women were driving away from the Delta Grande Hotel in a Porsche Cayenne after a weekend of boating and partying in the Okanagan city.

On Wednesday, Amero showed no obvious outward signs of the injuries he suffered seven years ago.

The Sun earlier reported that Amero was arrested in Montreal in November 2012 and charged in a major cocaine smuggling case. He remained in pretrial custody in Quebec until his charges were stayed in 2017 after his lawyer successfully argued that the case took too long to get to trial.

Amero has worked as a longshoreman in B.C. and even sponsored a fellow Hells Angel for membership in his union while in custody back east.

Rabih “Robby” Alkhalil

Also charged in connection with the Duhre and Dhak murders are Rabih (Robby) Alkhalil and Dean Wiwchar. Both men remain in custody.

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

Last year, when officers raided the Devils Army clubhouse in Campbell River, president Ricky Alexander said he had no idea what was going on.

Now Alexander has been charged with the first-degree murder of Dillon Brown, whose body was found in the trunk of a car on March 12, 2016.

Here’s my story:

The Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of B.C. and the Vancouver Island major-crime unit executed a search warrant at a Devils Army clubhouse at 70 Petersen Rd. in Campbell River on Thursday, Aug. 10, in relation to the 2016 murder of Dillon Brown. [PNG Merlin Archive]
Submitted, CFSEU B.C., PNG

A prominent Hells Angels associate who leads the Devil’s Army support club in Campbell River has been charged with the 2016 murder of a promising MMA fighter and young father.

Richard Ernest “Ricky” Alexander, 63, was arrested Friday afternoon in a parking lot in Campbell River and charged with killing John “Dillon” Brown, 30.

Brown was found dead inside the trunk of his grey Honda Accord on March 12, 2016, near Sayward, northwest of Campbell River. He was last seen leaving a Campbell River residence about 1 p.m. the day before.

Officers from the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit executed a search warrant in connection with Brown’s death at the Devils Army clubhouse last year.

At the time, Alexander told Postmedia that he didn’t know why police were there and wouldn’t comment until he found out.

CFSEU Sgt. Brenda Winpenny said Friday that the anti-gang agency worked with police from the Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit on the “very active” murder investigation, which involved over 200 officers.

She said Alexander is being held in custody on Vancouver Island pending his next court appearance.

CFSEU Chief Officer Trent Rolfe said the charge is “particularly significant as it involves a long-time, high-ranking member of an outlaw motorcycle club.”

Alexander owns the building housing the clubhouse at 70 Petersen Rd., which was assessed last year as being worth $311,000, property records show.

He also owns a 13-acre property in Mission, assessed at just over $1 million, where he lives. And he owns condos in Burnaby and Pitt Meadows worth a total of $714,000, according to land titles obtained by Postmedia.

The Devils Army opened in Campbell River in 2009. Police say the 1% biker gang, which has five full-patch members and two strikers, or prospects, is affiliated with the Haney chapter of the more notorious Hells Angels.

Alexander and three others applied to trademark the helmeted skull logo that is the centre of the Devils Army’s three-piece patch on May 22, 2009. The Canadian Intellectual Property Office finally approved the trademark in 2012, records show.

The back patch for the Devil’s Army from Campbell River, B.C., one of a series of puppet clubs of the Hell’s Angels, police say. Photo: 2009

Alexander describes himself on land title records as a businessman and a forestry consultant. Back in 2001, at a sentencing hearing for a firearms charge, his lawyer said Alexander was an experienced arborist, owned a trucking company, and was partners in a granite quarry in Suriname.

The 2001 conviction stemmed from his arrest near an East Vancouver house associated with friends of suspects in the murder a month earlier of prominent Hells Angel Donald Roming.

At the time, Alexander had a loaded pink handgun in his waistband and a list of names and descriptions in the glove compartment of his rental car. The first name on the list was the person that police identified as the main suspect in Roming’s murder. Police also found a black toque and dark clothing in the car, as well as a second loaded handgun in the trunk.

Alexander pleaded guilty to a single count of possessing a loaded prohibited weapon and was sentenced to 22 months.

At his sentencing hearing, the Crown said there was a clear connection to the murder of Roming, who was gunned down March 9, 2001, outside a downtown nightclub.

Before he was shot, Roming had argued with two men in the club. The dispute spilled outside, ending with the fatal shooting. The suspects fled before police arrived, but others at the crime scene shouted their names to police. Friends of Roming’s also heard the names.

Police were watching the East Vancouver house linked to the suspects on April 4, 2001, when they saw Alexander in black clothing lurking near the rear of the residence and then circling the block. He later got into a leased Budget rental car and circled the block again, before leaving and going to a Burnaby address and then to a place in Mission.

When Alexander returned the following night, police stopped him and found a .22-calibre semi-automatic subcompact handgun in his waistband and another .22-calibre handgun in the trunk.

In the glove compartment, they found two handwritten pages listing the name of the prime suspect in the Roming shooting and three of his friends. The list included addresses for the men and, in some cases their families, vehicle descriptions and licence plate numbers, and physical descriptions of the men — including, in some cases, height, weight and whether they had any tattoos.

Alexander denied acting on behalf of the Hells Angels.

His lawyer told the judge in 2001 that his client had a “troubled youth” and had an extensive criminal record that included armed robbery, break and enter, and drug trafficking.

RCMP Asst. Commissioner Kevin Hacket said Friday that police across the country “are committed to ensuring that outlaw motorcycle gangs and their associates remain a priority due to the level of violence and harm they inflict on our communities.”

“This investigation showcases that a collaborative, coordinated and focused approach can gather the evidence necessary to ensure that those responsible are brought before the courts,” Hackett said.

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

A prominent Hells Angels associate who leads the Devils Army support club in Campbell River has been charged with the 2016 murder of a promising MMA fighter and young father.

Richard Ernest “Ricky” Alexander, 63, was arrested Friday afternoon in a parking lot in Campbell River and charged with killing John “Dillon” Brown, 30.

Brown was found dead inside the trunk of his grey Honda Accord on March 12, 2016, near Sayward, northwest of Campbell River. He was last seen leaving a Campbell River residence about 1 p.m. the day before.

Officers from the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit executed a search warrant in connection with Brown’s death at the Devils Army clubhouse last year.

At the time, Alexander told Postmedia he didn’t know why police were there and wouldn’t comment until he found out.

Richard ‘Ricky’ Alexander, president of the Hells Angels support club Devils Army, in 2017.

CFSEU Sgt. Brenda Winpenny said Friday that the anti-gang agency worked with police from the Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit on the “very active” murder investigation, which involved over 200 officers.

She said Alexander is being held in custody on Vancouver Island pending his next court appearance.

CFSEU Chief Officer Trent Rolfe said the charge is “particularly significant as it involves a long-time, high-ranking member of an outlaw motorcycle club.”

Alexander owns the building housing the clubhouse at 70 Petersen Rd., which was assessed last year as being worth $311,000, property records show.

He also owns a 13-acre property in Mission, assessed at just over $1 million, where he lives. And he owns condos in Burnaby and Pitt Meadows worth a total of $714,000, according to land titles obtained by Postmedia.

The Devils Army opened in Campbell River in 2009. Police say the 1% biker gang, which has five full-patch members and two strikers, or prospects, is affiliated with the Haney chapter of the more notorious Hells Angels.

Alexander and three others applied to trademark the helmeted skull logo that is the centre of the Devils Army’s three-piece patch on May 22, 2009. The Canadian Intellectual Property Office finally approved the trademark in 2012, records show.

Alexander describes himself on land title records as a businessman and a forestry consultant. Back in 2001, at a sentencing hearing for a firearms charge, his lawyer said Alexander was an experienced arborist, owned a trucking company, and was partners in a granite quarry in Suriname.

The 2001 conviction stemmed from his arrest near an east Vancouver house associated with friends of suspects in the murder a month earlier of prominent Hells Angel Donald Roming.

At the time, Alexander had a loaded pink handgun in his waistband and a list of names and descriptions in the glove compartment of his rental car. The first name on the list was the person police identified as the main suspect in Roming’s murder. Police also found a black toque and dark clothing in the car, as well as a second loaded handgun in the trunk.

Alexander pleaded guilty to a single count of possessing a loaded prohibited weapon and was sentenced to 22 months.

At his sentencing hearing, the Crown said there was a clear connection to the murder of Roming, who was gunned down March 9, 2001, outside a downtown nightclub.

Before he was shot, Roming had argued with two men in the club. The dispute spilled outside, ending with the fatal shooting. The suspects fled before police arrived, but others at the crime scene shouted their names to police. Friends of Roming’s also heard the names.

Police were watching the east Vancouver house linked to the suspects on April 4, 2001, when they saw Alexander in black clothing lurking near the rear of the residence and then circling the block. He later got into a leased Budget rental car and circled the block again, before leaving and going to a Burnaby address and then to a place in Mission.

Richard ‘Ricky’ Alexander, president of the Devils Army biker club, in 2012.

When Alexander returned the following night, police stopped him and found a .22-calibre semi-automatic subcompact handgun in his waistband and another .22-calibre handgun in the trunk.

In the glove compartment, they found two handwritten pages listing the name of the prime suspect in the Roming shooting and three of his friends. The list included addresses for the men and, in some cases, their families, vehicle descriptions and licence plate numbers, and physical descriptions of the men — including, in some cases, height, weight and whether they had any tattoos.

Alexander denied acting on behalf of the Hells Angels.

His lawyer told the judge in 2001 that his client had a “troubled youth” and had an extensive criminal record that included armed robbery, break and enter, and drug trafficking.

RCMP Asst. Commissioner Kevin Hacket said Friday that police across the country “are committed to ensuring that outlaw motorcycle gangs and their associates remain a priority due to the level of violence and harm they inflict on our communities.”

“This investigation showcases that a collaborative, co-ordinated and focused approach can gather the evidence necessary to ensure that those responsible are brought before the courts,” Hackett said.

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

When Yong Long Ye was arrested almost 11 years ago, police described him as the “head of the snake” of an international trafficking gang who owned luxury properties and moved tens of millions in drugs and cash.

Since getting day parole earlier this year, he has been living a less glamorous life, staying in a halfway house and working as a painter, parole documents state.

The Parole Board of Canada ruled Oct. 15 that Ye, now 51, could remain on day parole because he no longer presents “an undue risk to society.”

“Your release will contribute to the protection of society by facilitating your reintegration into society as a law-abiding citizen,” board members Mike Sanford and Christopher Sullivan said in their written ruling.

Ye was sentenced to 18 years in jail in 2008 after pleading guilty in B.C. Supreme Court to conspiracy to import and traffic cocaine and methamphetamine, as well as laundering the proceeds of crime.

Ye’s criminal empire involved associates across Canada, in Australia, the U.S., Japan, New Zealand, Taiwan, India and China, according to submissions at his sentencing hearing. He was buying cocaine in California and transporting it to Canada, as well as manufacturing meth for sale in Australia.

The parole board documents don’t indicate where the former Vancouver resident is living now, but both Sanford and Sullivan are based in Ontario.

While on continued day parole, Ye has been ordered “not to associate with any person you know or have reason to believe is involved in criminal activity, which includes any known gang member, organized crime member or any of their associates.”

And he must work or go to school.

Ye is not allowed to have more than one cellphone, must stay away from casinos, and must report details of his finances, the board ruled.

The parole board ruling noted that Ye was described as the “operating mind” of a criminal organization that operated for at least seven years.

“Prior to your arrest, you were making plans to flee Canada and authorities believe you have financial monetary resources hidden and available to you,” the board said.

Sanford and Sullivan noted that while no victim impact statements had been filed in Ye’s case, “the amount and types of drugs involved (cocaine and methamphetamine) were such that it is reasonable to conclude that you contributed to the significant harm suffered by drug addicts, their families, and their communities.”

The parole board members said Ye had not demonstrated much remorse over the years, but said the inmate’s prison case management team thinks that could be the result of “language barriers.”

Ye came to Canada in 1989 as a landed immigrant and obtained his Canadian citizenship.

The board said he declared a low income, “but you lived in very expensive real estate and you were the beneficial owner of expensive real estate.”

“Some of the real estate was seized as proceeds of crime but you have also indicated that some of it, as well as some expensive vehicles, were returned to your family,” the board said.

Ye had no criminal convictions in Canada prior to his guilty plea, but he was earlier charged with trafficking and possession of a restricted or prohibited weapon with ammunition. The charges were dismissed.

He was also charged with assault, extortion and threatening the landlord of a building where he had been running a grow-op. The landlord found the grow-op and dismantled it, after which Ye allegedly threatened him, demanded $20,000 in compensation, then assaulted the man.

“The charges were stayed because the victim left Canada and was unable to testify,” the ruling said.

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

Yong Ye has served a decade behind bars after pleading guilty in 2008 to leading an international drug trafficking organization. At his sentencing hearing in December 2008, the Crown described just a few months in 2007 when his gang moved “over $4 million between Toronto and Vancouver” using couriers flying on commercial flights with packages containing hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Some of that cash was intercepted by police, who opened luggage at Vancouver airport, photographed the vacuum-packed bundles and then re-packed it in the luggage so the courier could unwittingly claim the bags and deliver the money to Ye.

He was handed an 18-year sentence during which he filed lawsuits against the Correctional Service Canada for the lack of programs he could assess.

Now he’s out on day parole.

Here’s my story:

For more than an hour as they drove down Highway 97 in the back of a B.C. Corrections van on Oct. 4, inmates pounded on the walls and shouted for help.

They were worried that fellow passenger Alex Joseph was dying of a drug overdose, after watching him slump to the floor, at first snoring heavily, but later turning blue.

The jail guards driving the van from Prince George to Maple Ridge stopped for coffee in Williams Lake, but didn’t respond to their shouts, three of the inmates who were also in the van told Postmedia this week.

When the van finally pulled over, north of 100 Mile House, Joseph, 36, was unresponsive. A passerby stopped and performed CPR, but he was gone.

His brother, Joseph Antoine, said Friday that he has a lot of questions about how his brother ended up dead while in the care of B.C. Corrections.

“For sure, it is upsetting,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense. I would like to know why and how this happened.”

Gordon Hansen, in custody on fraud charges, was in the same compartment as Joseph — each handcuffed and shackled — when the other inmate appeared to pass out after snorting something.

“We go around a corner and he can’t brace himself, so he slides off the seat onto me and then falls onto the floor,” Hansen said in a phone interview from Fraser Regional Correctional Centre.

“I took his leg up, slapping him, trying to get him up, but he’s snoring, so I know he is alive.”

Joseph later stopped snoring and his hand was blue. Hansen checked his breathing. He thought the officers in the cab would see Joseph on cameras they monitor.

But the van passed through Quesnel and continued on to Williams Lake without anyone checking on Joseph.

Hansen thinks the van was about 50 kilometres south of Williams Lake when it finally stopped.

“When they got me out, there was already an RCMP (officer) there, lights flashing,” he said.

Hansen said paramedics did not arrive for a long time — he thinks 40 minutes to an hour. Joseph was dead, but still in shackles and handcuffs.

Keghan Cosh was in the next compartment, but was able to see Joseph collapse onto the floor.

“Just before Williams Lake, I could see that his hand was just blue. He was going under. He was done. He needed a naloxone shot and he would have been fine,” Cosh said in an interview from Fraser Regional.

“We were banging (on the van walls) at this time, maybe 10 or 20 minutes before Williams Lake. Maybe for half an hour, we were like screaming at the top of our lungs: ‘This guy is in overdose. Pull over, man.’”

Cosh thinks the officers just assumed they were misbehaving, “Which is understandable. I get it.”

But he thinks they should have noticed on their cameras that Joseph was in distress.

“For anyone to be treated the way that guy was treated is inhumane,” said Cosh, who has struggled with addiction himself and is serving a sentence for theft under $5,000.

In a statement, B.C. Corrections official Cindy Rose said “any in-custody death is a tragedy and our thoughts are with the family and friends of this individual.”

She also said her agency is conducting “a formal review of the circumstances to make recommendations that may reduce the likelihood of a similar incident in the future.”

“Staff in the cab of vehicles can monitor inmates via cameras mounted in the passenger compartment, supplemented by a two-way communications system,” the statement said.

The government did not respond to specific questions about what the inmates said happened before Joseph died.

The inmates also said they were being moved because of staffing shortages at the Prince George jail.

Rose said only that inmates are transported between provincial jails “on an as-needed basis.”

Andy Watson, of the B.C. Coroners Service, said an investigation is underway to determine “the official cause of death and any contributory factors.”

Joseph was a member of the Beaver clan in the Nak’azdli Nation, near Fort St. James.

He had battled addiction for years and been in and out of jail. At the time of his death, he was in pretrial custody on a number of charges, including assault causing bodily harm and uttering threats.

His family said he told them he was determined to go to treatment once he was out.

Inmate Josh Suvee-Forsythe said this week that he is still rattled by what he witnessed on Oct. 4.

He was beside Cosh in the B.C. Corrections van when he saw Joseph crumple to the ground.

“We knew something was wrong right there,” said Suvee-Forsythe, who is also in Fraser Regional serving a 665-day sentence for robbery. “We were doing everything we could to get the guards to respond. We covered the cameras. They just slammed on the brakes to make us fall down.”

Suvee-Forsythe said Joseph’s death was preventable and he wants his family to know they really tried to save his life.

“At the top of our lungs we were just screaming,” he said. “Looking at his skin — his hands were purple. His face was purple. He wasn’t moving.”

kbolan@postmedia.com

blog: vancouversun.com/tag/real-scoop

twitter.com/kbolan

The death Oct. 4 of Alex Joseph while he was being transported by B.C. Corrections from Prince George to Maple Ridge leaves a lot of questions unanswered. Why didn’t the guards driving the van carrying Joseph and several other inmates stop when the inmates began shouting and pounding that Joseph was in medical distress?

And why are the conditions to transport these inmates so poor? No seat belts, no breaks for hours, sitting on hard metal benches for up to 10 hours. B.C. can do better than this.

Here’s my story: