An Alberta Mountie charged in the fatal shooting of a man sleeping in a pickup truck at a rest stop says he trusted information from a fellow officer that the man was wanted as a suspect.
Cpl. Randy Stenger, 45, and Const. Jessica Brown, 31, pleaded not guilty to charges of manslaughter and aggravated assault of 31-year-old Clayton Crawford near Whitecourt, Alta., on July 3, 2018.
A jury heard that Stenger and Brown shot Crawford 10 times, and the officers testified that they acted in self-defense.
Stenger said Brown told him the man in the truck was a suspect in a shooting a day earlier in the town of Valhalla Center and that the information was given to her by a clerk with the Grande Prairie RCMP detachment.
Crawford’s girlfriend was shot in the leg and his purple 1992 Dodge Dakota and other vehicles were seen leaving the area. But the jury heard the truck driver may have been the intended target in that shooting, not a suspect.
Stenger, under cross-examination by the Crown on Friday, said he believed the information Brown gave him about the driver of the truck being a suspect and that it was the only information available at the time.
“I assumed, I trusted the information,” says Stenger and adds that it is Brown’s responsibility to gather as much information as possible about the man in the truck.
READ MORE: 2nd Alberta Mountie charged with manslaughter testifies before jury
Stenger testified Thursday that he had more questions for Brown about the person when they approached the vehicle at the Chickadee Creek rest stop.
He said, “(Brown) sounded pretty confident that this could have been the target or potential shooter in the vehicle.”
Prosecutor Peter Scrutton said there was a difference between a suspect and a target.
“When you consider this conflicting information from Const. Brown – either shooter or victim – you have an obligation to clarify before you act,” Scrutton told Stenger.
Stenger said he made no inquiries of his own and that it was Brown’s responsibility to obtain all relevant information, as she was the lead investigator.
The court heard that Stenger drove the truck with Brown and another officer, Const. Ian Paddick. They all wore body armor.
Stenger said the plan was to first determine if anyone was in the vehicle, but there was no clear plan on what to do if there was a person in the truck.
It turned out there was a man lying in the seat sleeping. It was also raining, there were drops on the window and it was slightly foggy.
The court heard that Paddick, armed with a stun gun, knocked on the driver’s window. Brown testified she saw the man get into the truck between his legs. Paddick then smashed the driver’s window with a baton and tried to pull the man’s hands up. Brown also got involved in the fight.
The man started the truck and began to reverse. Brown testified that she thought the man was using the vehicle as a weapon and that she feared for her life and the lives of her colleagues.
Stenger said he believed the man probably had a gun.
Stenger fired four shots with a semi-automatic pistol and Brown fired eight shots with a carbine.
The trial was told there were warrants out for Crawford at the time, but the officers did not know what the warrants were for.
The prosecutor told the jury there was a big difference between someone having a warrant for a murder and one for failing to appear in court for a traffic violation.
“You took no steps to ascertain what the warrants were for or to whom they related?” asked Scrutton.
Stenger said he did not know Crawford’s name at the time, and was unable to check for warrants. He said it was the Grande Prairie department that told Brown the man in the truck had warrants.
Stenger reiterated that he believed the information given to him by Brown was complete and accurate.
Scrutton showed photos of video footage of the shooting taken from dashcams in RCMP cruisers at the rest stop. Going frame by frame, he said no officers were in the path of the truck at any time.
“That was not my perception at the time,” Stenger told the jury. “Before he fled, I believed that he tried to run us over.”
Scrutton asked Stenger if he had reason to believe the driver was hit by a bullet when the officers fired their guns.
“It is possible,” Stenger replied.
Scrutton suggested that if Crawford had been dead or unconscious, he would not have been able to stop the truck and it could have posed a greater risk.
“I agree that there may be a risk, but that it cannot be completely eliminated,” Stenger said.
“At the time, it was an automatic response to fire my firearm.”
Scrutton said the two defendants knew almost nothing about the driver of the truck, until they believed they were going to be shot at. Police later found a machete and a butcher knife in Crawford’s truck.
The jury will hear closing arguments on Wednesday.
© 2022 The Canadian Press
