‘That’s sentimental’: Emotional start to $500K Lambton County stolen property trial

Tom Parkins didn’t care about the full set of Milwaukee tools, the utility trailer, or one of the two Polaris snowmobiles stolen from his Lambton County farm.

But the second snowmobile that went missing from his fifth-generation farm near Alvinston on Feb. 16, 2022, really bothered him. That machine was purchased by his late father, John Parkins, before he died in 2011 for his grandchildren and great-grandchildren to enjoy riding around the property.

“That’s sentimental,” Parkins said Tuesday while testifying in a Sarnia courtroom.

Parkins was one of about 10 property owners, tenants and employees who tested Tuesday about a variety of high-priced equipment and goods going missing from mostly rural Lambton County locations during the early months of 2022. Some of the missing machinery, including pickup trucks, trailers, snowmobiles, toolboxes and diesel fuel tanks, was found after a suspect was arrested in St. Clair Township in March 2022.

The recovered stolen property was worth more than $500,000, Lambton OPP said.

Cody Price, a 33-year-old Petrolia-area man, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to 34 charges – two others were dropped – linked to the months-long investigation, kick-starting what’s expected to be a two-day trial. As it began, Parkins tested a suspect broke into a building on his farm property – a combination shop and apartment – ​​and damaged the doors, which made it hard to heat the place afterward.

“It was ignorant to break the doors,” he said.

But there was no video surveillance system in place at the time, something Dave Park of Parkland Farms said was also the case when a suspect broke into his Confederation Line property on Feb. 12, 2022, and took their black Ford F-250, a tandem-axle trailer and toolboxes.

“At the time, no,” Park said, adding they didn’t have an alarm system back then, either.

There was video of an alleged break-in at the Mammoet branch in Sarnia on Feb. 22, 2022, where a suspect is seen walking around the property, climbing into a green telescopic handler and moving it around. The piece of machinery, also called a telehandler, was damaged and a utility trailer and diesel fuel tanks were stolen.

But defense lawyer Ken Marley pointed out to Stephen Belrose, Mammoet’s branch manager, you can’t tell who the suspect is on the video, not even if it’s a man or a woman.

“No,” Belrose said while testing.

Two more video clips were shown from an incident on Feb. 24, 2022, when $50,000 in new and used tires, including a customer’s set on rims for their Lincoln Navigator worth $10,000, were stolen from the former Lambton Ford dealership. Brad Hutchinson, vice president of operations at the time, tested a pickup truck seen pulling into the parking lot and leaving later with a trailer appeared to be a Ford F-150 or F-250.

But he couldn’t make out a license plate or a suspect.

There also was no video footage available linked to a trio of thefts from storage units in Zorra Township and in Petrolia, the latter featuring two snowmobiles and a trailer valued at nearly $17,000.

Lambton OPP Const. Wyatt Renders was the final witness called Tuesday. He gave testimony about being called to a rural property near Brigden on March 1, 2022, about a potentially stolen pickup truck and trailer a detective discovered on a narrow trail. A male suspect moving items between the pickup and a tote box was arrested after initially resisting police despite a canine unit being on scene.

Renders was asked to identify who the suspect was.

“Cody Price,” he said before pointing to the defendant sitting in the courtroom.

During cross-examination, Marley focused on Renders repeatedly punching his client in the head during the arrest while they were both inside the pickup truck. He suggested the punches weren’t due to the fact the pickup could’ve been put in gear by the suspect, endangering other officers outside the vehicle, but because Renders was annoyed the suspect wouldn’t follow his commands.

“That’s not true,” Renders said.

Marley said the officer broke his client’s nose during the arrest.

Five more officers are expected to take the stand when the trial continues Wednesday.

Price, a Heat and Frost Insulators Local 95 employee, is facing about a dozen other charges linked to three other cases – they were adjourned Tuesday – including flight from police, assaulting a police officer with a weapon, and dangerous driving.

Lambton OPP said in December a suspect intentionally rammed one of their cruisers while evading police. Soon after, they published a wanted poster featuring a photo and description of Price and he turned himself into police on Jan. 8. Police thanked the public afterward for their overwhelming support on social media.

Price was released in late April we have $40,000 lease plan with a long list of rules including house arrest in Wyoming, GPS tracking, and a ban on sitting in the driver’s seat of any vehicle.

Price previously was acquitted of charges of ramming an OPP cruiser in 2015, but also spent a month in jail that year for breaking court rules by briefly going to a bar.

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@ObserverTerry