Man facing several charges denied bail

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This article was published 19/07/2023 (1149 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A man facing numerous allegations, including allegedly carrying a gun around town, prompting police to advise schools in the Louise Avenue area to take security precautions, will remain behind bars.

Ralph Chief made an unsuccessful bid for release in court on Monday after proposing to leave the community and live in Winnipeg while waiting for his charges to move through the court system. The 29-year-old is facing numerous weapons charges and possession of property obtained by crime charges.

The allegations against Chief have not been proven in court, and he remains innocent until proven guilty.

An articling student for the Crown, Nikki Boggs, read the evidence for the charges.

On March 20, 2023, Brandon police responded to a report about a man with a handgun in an area near a school on the 500 block of Louise Avenue.

The caller had taken a photo of the man, and it was provided to officers to set out on patrol to find him. While they searched for the man, police say that they advised schools in the area to “hold and secure.”

The caller later provided a statement to police and told them that earlier that day, people had tried to break into the mailbox of one of the properties he manages.

He confronted the people trying to break in and took a photo of them as they were leaving. One the men confronted the caller about taking a photo and reached into his waistband and pulled out a handgun. The man pointed the handgun at the caller and charged toward him.

The caller fled in his vehicle, which brushed against the man, who tried to stop the caller from driving away.

Officers later found the man standing on the corner of Fifth Street and Louise Avenue and arrested him. Police found a replica BB gun in one of the man’s bags that he had previously left at his aunt’s apartment.

The man’s aunt, who provided a statement to police, said that she did not know there was a replica BB gun in the bag when the man dropped the bags off at her apartment. She said that when police located the man, they were in the process of calling police, to make a report about being hit by a vehicle.

The man was charged and released.

The next month, on June 21, police conducted a traffic stop with a car in the first block of 29th Street. A search of police records revealed that the driver did not have a valid driver’s licence. Police also saw a large knife in the gap between the driver’s seat and the seatbelt clip.

Records also showed that the vehicle was stolen.

Police searched the vehicle and found five more knives in the car.

The man was arrested and released.

But then, just a few days later on June 25, police would catch up with the man again, after they received a call that a vehicle that had been stolen from Onanole was in the 300 block of Ninth Street in Brandon.

Police conducted a traffic stop with the vehicle and arrested the driver.

The man was arrested and was held in custody for court.

The Crown opposed Chief’s release out of concerns for his potential to reoffend as well as his ability to follow court-ordered conditions.

On July 13, Chief pleaded guilty to failing to comply with reporting to probation, as well as failing to attend court. He has remained in jail since, serving time for those convictions.

Though the Crown acknowledged the fact that the gun turned out to be fake, the incident was still serious given that the victim who had a gun pointed at him had no idea whether the gun was real.

“We do have some serious concerns that not only will Mr. Chief not be able to follow any conditions that this honourable court may release him on, but of great concern is that he will continue to substantially reoffend,” Boggs said.

Chief’s lawyer, Greg Sacks, presented a bail plan that would have his client living in Winnipeg at a rooming house. Sacks said that Chief struggles with FASD, including short-term memory problems. He said that Chief experienced violence in the home when he was growing up.

The defence lawyer reminded the court that Chief is presumed innocent and that a plan to live in Winnipeg would help him get away from negative peer influences in Brandon.

Ultimately, Judge Shauna Hewitt-Michta denied Chief bail, citing previous convictions for violence and the man’s past issues with complying with court orders and attending court.

“[The bail plan] I suppose does take him outside of Brandon and maybe away from some negative influence, but … I can’t trust that Mr. Chief will follow conditions and there’s just really no supervision in place here,” the judge said.

She also noted that the time in between Chief’s alleged offending has gotten shorter. The judge cited Chief’s June charges and said that he didn’t make it more than a few days without trouble with the law.

“It seems like things are out of control and getting worse,” she said.

Chief’s matter will next appear before court on July 24.

» gmortfield@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @geena_mortfield