Moncton man pleads guilty to threatening to kill police
A 19-year-old Moncton man pleaded guilty Friday to a charge of uttering threats to cause the death of police officers back in June.
David Earl Crawford was supposed to stand trial for the offence today, but the Crown and the defence were able to resolve the matter and Crawford changed his plea to guilty.
Crown prosecutor Maurice Blanchard laid out the facts of the case today in court.
He said Crawford was on a bus heading to Dieppe at about 7 p.m. on June 9.
It was just five days after three Moncton RCMP officers were shot to death by Justin Bourque and two others were injured in Bourque's shooting spree.
Blanchard said Crawford wrote derogatory remarks about the RCMP inside the bus and was kicked off.
He ended up near the RCMP detachment, where the steps were filled with flowers and cards honouring the fallen and injured officers.
Between 50 and 100 people were there paying their respects. Crawford ended up across the street from the detachment.
One witness heard him say "F--k the police, kill them all."
A second witness heard Crawford yell "Kill the cops, kill them all, line them up like dominoes."
Blanchard said as this was happening, RCMP assistant commissioner Roger Brown was walking out of the Codiac detachment.
Brown also heard Crawford shouting to "kill the cops."
Blanchard says all of the people at the gathering stopped talking and were in shock.
Crawford was dressed in a camouflage jacket and was carrying a guitar case on his back.
Brown followed Crawford three blocks down Main Street and Crawford said "Are you following me?"
Brown said he was and grabbed Crawford's right arm and put him against a wall and arrested him for causing a disturbance.
He waited for more officers to show up to complete the arrest.
Blanchard says Crawford's description matched that of gunman Justin Bourque.
Brown also spoke to the court Friday.
He said the June 4 shooting had a tremendous impact on everybody in Moncton and the city was in a crisis situation.
Brown said when the incident involving Crawford happened, what was most disturbing to him was the look of horror on the faces of the people in front of the detachment.
Brown also said when this happened he was leaving the detachment to write his remarks for the funerals of the three fallen officers, which was going to be held the next day.
Brown also said the situation had the potential to turn into a volatile situation.
Defence lawyer Sylvain Pelletier told the court Crawford has no criminal record.
He said his client was diagnosed with depression disorder when he was 15 and he was not taking his medication that day.
Crawford also had a difficult upbringing.
Pelletier said Crawford had been on his way to see his son that night and was upset when he got kicked off the bus.
He says Crawford regrets what happened and that it wasn't planned.
Crawford apologized to the court saying he didn't want a "pity party."
He says he was in a bad place and wants to move on.
Judge Irwin Lampert says Crawford admitted to acting like an idiot and he agrees.
He told Crawford what he did was terribly insensitive, terribly stupid and terribly dangerous.
In the end he agreed to a joint-sentencing recommendation from the Crown and the defence.
Crawford will serve 60 days in jail for uttering threats, which will be served on weekends so he can continue his GED education.
A charge of causing a disturbance was stayed.
Crawford was also sentenced to seven days to be served concurrently for breaching conditions on July 6.
He was also sentenced to one day also to be served concurrently for possessing a small amount of marijuana.
Crawford will be on probation for 12 months and will have to follow a number of conditions, including a referral for mental health assessment and treatment.
Crawford and Brown shook hands before court started.
Brown says it happened again, when court was done.
"Coming out of court, he did the same thing, apologized and you know ironically said to me `Thank you, stay well and stay safe out there,' which is I guess ironic considering the circumstances," said Brown. "But hopefully he's sincere in his actions and hopefully he's sincere in turning his own life around and able to make a difference."
