Fraud charges dropped against officer in sale of Gretzky stick

Charges have been withdrawn against a Kemptville-area OPP detachment commander charged with fraud in the sale of a hockey stick used by hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, her lawyer said Thursday.

Insp. June Dobson, 58, was charged with fraud over $5,000 and breach of trust following an investigation into the alleged theft of Gretzky memorabilia from his father's home in Brantford, reported to police in August 2020.

The investigation discovered that missing items had likely been sold to a number of collectors across the country, and warrants were executed at five homes across Ontario and Alberta. An Oakville man was charged with theft and possession over $5,000.

But police also “uncovered evidence of a second individual, unrelated to the initial investigation, believed to have committed a fraud involving Gretzky memorabilia (hockey stick),” according to the Brantford Police Service.

When the charges were announced last December, Brantford police Staff Sgt. Keith Tollar said Dobson was alleged to have “misrepresented the authenticity and the origin of the item,” thereby increasing its value to a purchaser.

Dobson is a longtime friend of the Gretzky family, Tollar said, and was not alleged to have had any part in either the theft of memorabilia or its subsequent movement.

A Thursday statement from the office of Dobson's lawyer said she had been “falsely accused of misrepresenting a backyard hockey stick used by Wayne Gretzky when he was a young boy.”

Dobson sold the hockey stick for $6,000 in 2019 to a “self-proclaimed expert and collector of Gretzky memorabilia,” according to the lawyer's statement. She “displayed complete visibility and transparency throughout the process” and the buyer had the opportunity to examine the stick before purchasing it, the statement said.

Dobson was given the stick 10 years ago by her longtime friend Walter Gretzky, according to the statement. It had been “tossed in the garage among numerous other sticks” and its history was shared by Walter.

“Over the years, Inspector Dobson had been in Gretzky's home hundreds of times and had access to everything. Inspector Dobson never accepted nor possessed any game-used or worn Wayne Gretzky memorabilia and had absolutely nothing to do with the theft allegation involving (the Oakville man).”

Postmedia News has reached out to the Brantford Police Service for comment. Until the courts open Friday, the Ministry of the Attorney General was unable to verify that the charges had been withdrawn.