Court update: Murder suspect granted bail, preliminary hearing in police-involved shooting, jail time after weapon pointed at police

Preliminary hearing set after police-involved shooting

Alberta Justice says preliminary hearing dates have been set for one of two men charged after an incident in December where an RCMP member fired their weapon.

The hearing for Raymond Andrew Rodtka is set for March 18 and 19.

He is facing 15 charges, including two of attempted murder.

Grande Prairie RCMP said that at 4 a.m. on December 4 of last year, they were trying to stop what they thought was a stolen vehicle.

A confrontation then started between the suspects and police, leading to one of the Mounties firing their weapon.

The driver of that vehicle had what police described as serious injuries and was treated at hospital.

The other man charged, Kevin Daniel Turner, pleaded guilty to a single count of unauthorized possession of a firearm July 3 in Grande Prairie court. He was given 30 days already served in jail. A count of possession of a firearm in a motor vehicle was withdrawn.

The pair was also charged after a November 30 armed robbery at a gas station in Sangudo. The two have been combined into the same case.

Jail time for man charged after weapon pointed at police

Alberta Justice says a Hythe man charged after a 2018 incident that involved a chase and a firearm being pointed at police has pleaded guilty to 15 of the 51 charges he was facing.

Cory Orin James Stephens admitted to five weapons counts, including pointing a firearm, two charges each of possession of stolen property both over and under $5000, along with two counts each of failure to comply with a probation order and failure to comply with conditions. He also pleaded guility to single counts of failure to stop a vehicle for police and disqualified driving August 7 in Grande Prairie court.

Grande Prairie RCMP said in a news release that around 4 a.m. on February 2 last year, they were called out because someone saw somebody waving a firearm around on the side of Highway 40.

Police tried to do a vehicle stop, but the driver took off. Mounties gave chase, but lost sight of the vehicle because of poor weather. They were able to locate it soon after. A man got out of the truck, pointed the firearm at police, then ran into a nearby oil lease. He was arrested without any more trouble.

Stephens also admitted to theft under $5000, possession of a prohibited weapon, and failure to comply charges in two other cases against him.

He was given a three-year jail sentence to cover everything. He will get 27 months credit for time already spent in jail.

by Curtis Galbraith

Court update: Murder suspect granted bail, preliminary hearing in police-involved shooting, jail time after weapon pointed at police

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