Teen charged with killing officer denied freedom again

CALGARY — Police revealed Monday a third person is believed to have been in the vehicle that struck Sgt. Andrew Harnett, who was killed on New Year’s Eve while conducting a traffic stop in Calgary.

That person is being sought as a witness to the incident, police said in a news release Monday.

Body camera footage, which has been released as part of the investigation and court proceedings, captured images of the witness as a rear passenger. Police say that individual has yet to “self-identify as being in the vehicle.”

The passenger appears to be wearing a Burberry-style shirt or jacket or a similarly coloured fabric.

Police say they will not provide any further information regarding the matter, as it is before the courts.

Harnett, 37, was killed New Year’s Eve after being struck by an SUV that fled a traffic stop in the northeast neighbourhood of Falconridge.

Two men have been charged in connection with the case and on Monday one of the men — a Calgary teen denied bail last week — had a second bid at freedom denied.

Youth court Judge Steve Lipton denied an application by defence counsel Kaysi Fagan to release the teen into the custody of a responsible person, either his mother or adult sister.

Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, an accused can be released to a person willing to take responsibility for them, effectively acting as their jailer in the community.

But Lipton agreed with Crown prosecutor Doug Taylor the youth hadn’t established sufficient grounds to be released to a responsible person.

The judge imposed a publication ban on the accused’s bail application at Fagan’s request, which continued in place for the second hearing.