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Court Briefs: Nov. 8

Nov 8, 2018 | 4:23 PM

Four people who face kidnapping, forcible confinement and drug charges will face a preliminary hearing early next year.

On June 17, Mounties allege a kidnapping and assault occurred where three suspects abducted two adult victims from a location in Olds. Police say the victims were driven in their own vehicle to the Syndicate Motorcycle Club Clubhouse in Red Deer where one of them was assaulted. They were released and left from the clubhouse.

On June 29, three different suspects came to the same victims’ residence in Didsbury and broke into the house before stealing the female victim’s car and fleeing.

On July 10, four suspects were arrested in Red Deer and a search warrant was executed at the Syndicate Motorcycle Club Red Deer Clubhouse where evidence was seized for further examination. On July 11, a second search warrant was executed at a residence on Daines Avenue in Red Deer where cocaine, cash and further evidence was seized according to police.

A preliminary hearing for Rachel Lynn Baskier, Kevin Michael Fix, Joshua Bradley Noordhoff and Jessie Waugh will take place Feb. 25, 2019 in Didsbury.

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A Penhold man charged after woman was assaulted and had her truck stolen last month is going to trial.

Innisfail RCMP responded at around 2:30 p.m. on Oct. 16 after a robbery had taken place at a rural property northeast of Innisfail.

A woman at the residence told police a man knocked on her door before forcing his way inside, assaulting her and taking her truck keys before leaving. The woman followed, asking the man to return her purse, at which point he asked for money. She complied and the suspect fled in her truck.

With help from OnStar, police tracked the stolen truck to Red Deer. The suspect was later located and arrested.

Lyle Whitesel, 36, will stand trial May 6, 2019 in Red Deer provincial court.

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A man who pointed an imitation firearm at several people at a local auto dealership earlier this year will be sentenced in January.

Red Deer RCMP responded to a report of a man with a firearm at a south-end dealership on Gaetz Avenue at around 2:45 p.m. on June 20.

Staff had approached a suspicious man in the parking lot when he displayed what appeared to be a handgun and pointed it at several staff members before fleeing to a nearby restaurant.

Mounties responded immediately and located the suspect in the restaurant and took him into custody without incident. Officers seized the weapon and determined that it was an imitation firearm.

Robert Charles Richards has pleaded guilty to assault with a weapon and using an imitation firearm in the commission of an offence. He will be sentenced in Red Deer provincial court on January 8.

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A Drayton Valley man charged with child luring-related offences is going to trial.

42-year-old Yousef Ammar is charged with sexual assault, sexual interference, distributing child pornography and possession of child pornography.

Ammar was one of 13 Alberta men arrested in a series of recent investigations by the ALERT Internet Child Exploitation Unit.

He will stand trial April 8-12, 2019 in Drayton Valley provincial court.

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A preliminary hearing has been ordered for a Halkirk-area couple charged with drug trafficking.

Bayden Cormick, 45, and Leigh Green, were arrested July 5 after police executed a search warrant at a residence in Paintearth County. Several items were seized including Canadian currency, meth, cocaine, fentanyl and five firearms – three of which were prohibited.

Cormick is facing four trafficking charges, one count of possession of methamphetamine for the purpose of trafficking, one count of possession of proceeds of crime and several firearms charges.

Green is facing a charge of possession of methamphetamine for the purpose of trafficking, and firearms charges.

The pair will face a preliminary hearing in Stettler provincial court on May 31, 2019.

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An arrest warrant has been issued for a man charged following a crime spree last month in which a police vehicle was rammed during a pursuit.

Trent Roan, 25, was to appear in court Nov. 1 but did not show up. Roan is charged with two counts of breach of court order.

Mounties spotted a stolen truck from Blackfalds in the Johnstone neighbourhood on the afternoon of Oct. 25. The truck rammed into a police vehicle in a bid to escape and later became stuck when it hit a transformer box, causing the neighbourhood to lose power for several hours.

Two suspects were arrested inside the truck and a third following a brief foot chase. A fourth suspect is still to be identified. Some fentanyl was also seized from inside the stolen truck.

Nickolas Tweedle, 21, is due back in court Nov. 14 on counts relating to stolen property, flight from police, and driving without insurance and registration, and driving while unauthorized. He also had several outstanding warrants prior to last month’s incident.

Shyla Loustel, 23, has been sentenced to 30 days in jail and 12 months’ probation on counts of possession of a controlled substance and resisting a peace officer.