An Innisfail-area man, who allegedly committed a robbery at Kelly's Campground on June 5 and was the subject of an intense manhunt in Bowden a week later, made his first court appearance in Red Deer last week.
Dillon Bristow, 20, who is in custody, appeared in Red Deer provincial court on June 20 facing 43 Criminal Code charges. Twenty-two of them resulted from the night of his arrest, following a six-hour manhunt that began with a hit-and-run stolen vehicle incident in Penhold on June 12 and ended in the early morning hours the next day.
From those charges, seven of them – including robbery and using a firearm in the commission of an offence – are as a result of the alleged June 5 robbery at the campground, located about 25 kilometres west of Innisfail.
The rest of the charges include a nine-count Jan. 2 warrant from Medicine Hat, including one property and four drug offences.
Bristow's June 20 court appearance was brief. He did not have legal counsel and told Judge David Plosz he's seeking to retain Edmonton criminal lawyer Paul Moreau. His next court appearance is scheduled on June 27 for plea and election.
Bristow's alleged accomplice in the Kelly's Campground robbery also appeared in Red Deer provincial court on June 20 - via closed circuit television.
Michael Holt, 33, of Red Deer, told Plosz he was dismissing his lawyer Walter Kubanek and was applying for new counsel.
Holt, who is also in custody, is facing June 5 charges of possession of property obtained by crime, possession of cocaine, failing to comply with the conditions of an undertaking and failing to comply with a probation order. He will also return to Red Deer provincial court on June 27 for plea and election.
Meanwhile, Innisfail RCMP, who are the lead investigating police detachment in both the Kelly's Campground and June 12 Bowden takedown incidents, said all investigative evidence is now with the Crown and before the courts.
Cpl. Jeff Hildebrandt said while the June 12 pursuit and takedown incident involving Bristow began with a stolen vehicle driving out of Penhold and heading towards Bowden, RCMP believe it was originally taken from the Bashaw area.
“The vehicle was not stolen in Penhold. I believe it was stolen out of the Bashaw area but it was definitely stolen outside of Innisfail's jurisdiction,” said Hildebrandt. “He happened to be in Penhold when the hit and run came, and there were police officers involved there at that time. That directly led to our locating the stolen vehicle he was in at the time of the collision in Penhold and his subsequent arrest.”
Hildebrandt would not comment specifically when asked if Bristow's family members, who have close ties to the Innisfail community, were contacted during the RCMP's hunt for the fugitive.
“There was significant amount of involvement and investigation in looking for him once the warrants were established from the Kelly's Campground incident,” said Hildebrandt. “I understand there is some close ties to the community but it is not a normal action for us to deal with the parents of an adult accused unless they bring something forward to our attention that we need to address.”
