Robbery suspect makes court appearance

One of the men accused of perpetrating a May 27 robbery at a Water Street Motel in Summerside has had to find a new lawyer.

Aaron Christopher Prichard, 34, made a brief court appearance Tuesday where his lawyer, Derek Bondt, requested permission to step away from the case, citing a conflict he’d only recently been made aware of. Bondt indicated that a new legal aid lawyer had already been assigned to Prichard, and a request was made for another delay to allow them to get up to speed on the case.

The request was granted, and Prichard will be back in court on July 24. He was remanded into custody, where he has been since his arrest.

Prichard is facing charges of robbery, assault with a weapon and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose.

There are three co-accused in connection with the robbery incident, of which Prichard is one and the other two are Scott Bruce Dalziel, 40, and Congjie Tan, 26.

Dalziel has already pleaded not guilty to the charges against him and has a court date set for trial Aug. 27 and 28.

Tan is scheduled to make another court appearance on July 5 to enter his plea. All three men were allegedly involved in the robbery which precipitated the death of Jeremy Stephens, 32, of Summerside. Stephens was shot by police as they attempted to arrest him for suspected involvement in the same robbery. He later died in hospital.