Man accused of robbery, assault denied bail

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This article was published 15/07/2023 (992 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A man will be staying behind bars after allegedly throwing a jar of queso dip at a convenience store employee and punching a supermarket employee while on statutory release from Stony Mountain Institution earlier this year.

Frederick Brass, who is facing charges of robbery with a weapon, disguise with intent and assault, was denied bail Friday morning. The Crown opposed his release, citing concerns about the potential for Brass to commit more violent offences.

Crown attorney Reid Girard read the evidence for the charges against Brass in court.

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

On Feb. 12 around 4:48 a.m., police responded to a report of a robbery at the 10th Street 7-Eleven, where an employee had been hit over the head with a glass bottle.

The incident was recorded on security footage, which police reviewed and used to identify the suspects. On the video, a man and a woman, both wearing red bandanas, were in the 10th Street 7-Eleven, shopping for food items. They both brought several items to the counter for the employee to scan. The man talked to the employee while the woman walked to the far end of the store. The duo appeared to be texting each other.

Then the man pulled his bandana over his face to disguise himself. The woman came back up to the counter and handed the man a jar of queso dip. The man took the jar and threw it at the employee, hitting him in the face. The man fled, and the woman, after grabbing some of the unpurchased items on the counter, ran off as well.

A few days later, Brandon police were called to the Great Canadian Superstore after an employee reported he had been assaulted while trying to arrest a woman for a theft from the store.

In his statement to police, the employee said that when he had been trying to arrest the woman for stealing from the store, her boyfriend punched him in the face. The pair left the store.

Police also took a statement from the woman, who claimed that the Superstore employee had accused her of stealing, though she said she had not taken anything from the store. She said that the employee had gotten physical with her while trying to detain her and that her boyfriend, “Freddie,” had punched the employee in an effort to stick up for her.

Girard pointed to Brass’ criminal record as evidence of his tendency for violent behaviour, which he said would likely continue if Brass was released on bail. He also cited Brass’s disregard for following court-ordered conditions as the 35-year-old racked up his recent charges while on statutory release from prison.

“Brass has proven himself to be a violent, unpredictable individual,” Girard said. “You can see the entrenched pattern of violent behaviour in his criminal record.”

At the time of his recent charges, Brass had finished serving time for a manslaughter conviction for the death of Aaron Daniel Jardine, who was killed at the Brandon Community Welcome Clubhouse during a robbery Brass was involved in with two other men. Brass held the man’s head down on the carpet while he sat on his back. Jardine died from asphyxia. Brass pleaded guilty to manslaughter and served a six-year and six-month sentence.

Girard said that Brass’ use of the glass jar as a weapon during the recent alleged robbery was a cruel act of violence. Brass is alleged to have thrown the jar at the 7-Eleven employee unprovoked, and it left the employee with a wound on his forehead.

“There is absolutely no reason to throw that jar of queso at the clerk except to engage in further violence towards that individual,” Girard said.

Brass’ lawyer, Jesse Blackman, pointed to holes in the Crown’s case against his client, including identifying him in the robbery and whether the arrest by the Superstore employee was legal.

Blackman presented a bail plan for his client that would have him living at Winnipeg’s Pan Am Place, a transitional housing facility for men. Though Brass has been sober while in prison, Blackman said that the facility would offer security for Brass as it requires residents to follow a curfew.

“In terms of compliance with the legal institution in the past, I think it has more to do with the lifestyle that Mr. Brass was living at the time and how that type of involvement is related to a level of instability in his life,” the defence lawyer said.

He said that Pan Am Place would provide Brass the structure and support he needs to transition to a life outside of custody without being pulled back into the wrong crowd as he could be if his plan was to return to Brandon.

“Giving him the benefit of a headstart with a program like Pan Am Place affords the public every vote of confidence that the administration of justice is being served when he is released,” Blackman said.

Judge John Combs said that Brass is presumed innocent and that if a reasonable bail plan could be formulated to address the risk to the community, then bail should be granted. While he acknowledged that there were issues with the Crown’s case, and that the bail plan was appealing to the court, he ultimately denied Brass’ release.

The judge had concerns with that Brass had become involved in serious incidents while on release conditions and sided with the Crown.

“I am of the view that there are risks regardless of the bail plan, to the community, that Mr. Brass would engage in activity that is of risk to the community,” Combs said.

Brass has pleaded not guilty to the robbery and assault charges. The trial for the assault is scheduled for Aug. 28 and the trial for the robbery is scheduled for Nov. 20.

» gmortfield@brandonsun.com

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