Manfacing many charges denied bail

Man facing numerous charges after raid on home

Ajudge has refused to release from custody a 35-year-old man charged with numerous offences following a police raid on a Lethbridge home in January. Clement Nolan Black Rabbit had hoped to gain his freedom Tuesday following a bail hearing in Lethbridge provincial court. But after hearing the charges and details of the alleged offences, Judge Eric Peterson detained Black Rabbit at the Lethbridge Correctional Centre, where he been in custody since his arrest.

Although evidence presented during Tuesday’s bail hearing cannot be published, police previously reported that on Jan. 12 patrol officers, along with members of the downtown policing unit and priority crimes unit, searched a home in the 1200 block of 6 Avenue South. They seized a shotgun, ammunition, knives, swords, throwing knives, a baton, two airsoft handguns, a small quantity of fentanyl, ID cards, credit cards, a debit terminal, tools, electronics, cellphones, a purse, video games and a 2010 Jeep.

Police said the bust was part of an ongoing investigation into drug trafficking activity in the downtown core.

Black Rabbit, who was represented by duty counsel during his bail hearing, is charged with possession of a prohibited firearm, possession of a stolen credit card, possession of stolen property over $5,000, careless use/storage of a firearm, knowingly possessing a prohibited/restricted weapon, possession of a loaded prohibited or restricted firearm, drug possession, possession of stolen property under $5,000, making/possessing identity documents, and several counts of breaching conditions of a recognizance.

A woman charged in relation to the same bust, Chantelle Joyce Pantherbone, was released from custody Feb. 22 on $2,000 no-cash bail and several conditions, including one that requires her to obey a curfew between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. every day, unless accompanied by her mother.

She is charged with possession of a prohibited firearm, possession of a stolen credit card, possession of stolen property over $5,000, careless use/storage of a firearm, knowingly possessing a prohibited/restricted weapon, possession of a loaded prohibited or restricted firearm, drug possession, possession of stolen property under $5,000, and making possessing identity document.

The matters for Pantherbone and Black Rabbit are scheduled to be back in court next Tuesday.