Last Updated on: 8th January 2024, 04:32 pm
Peeping through windows at teenagers and a toddler whilst unloading the ‘ol pump-action shotgun is a pretty bad thing to get arrested for, but I’m more interested in what Greg Verellen was picked up for a few months before that.
According to Stratford police media relations officer Const. Darren Fischer, the two previous charges stem from a dumpster fire allegedly set by Verellen on the night of Jan. 19. Fischer said Verellen was caught on security camera reportedly setting the initial fire, which was quickly extinguished by Stratford firefighters. Then, after midnight on Jan. 20, Verellen returned to the dumpster and allegedly tried to reignite the fire before jumping inside and allegedly masturbating, all of which Fischer said was again captured on security camera.
I don’t always have the best memory, but I’m pretty sure that unrolling the hose in the middle of a literal dumpster fire is a new one around here.
Yes it was January so warmth may have been a factor and perhaps the meth he was busted with during his later arrest might provide us with a solid clue as to the thought process involved here, but wow.
I hope all concerned can get whatever help they’re likely to need.
Update: Charges in this case were withdrawn. Essentially, the quality of the security video was going to make it hard to prove exactly what was going on and who was doing it.
While the witness who provided the video to police identified the person in the footage as the same man he found on the construction site the next morning, he was not sufficiently familiar with Verellen to identify him as the same person captured on camera, Wilson said.
“Having reviewed that video, your honour, I believe the court would be left in reasonable doubt given the quality of the video and given the witness’s lack of familiarity with Mr. Verellen, aside from seeing him be arrested by police the following day on an unrelated charge,” she said. “He doesn’t describe an indecent act, he doesn’t describe seeing an indecent act and then, having reviewed the video, it’s grainy and he can certainly infer that the person in the state of undress is (Verellen), but it’s not clear exactly what happened.”
Wilson also noted that neither the police officer who responded to the dumpster fire nor the officer who arrested Verellen the next day could identify him as the man in the video.
After listening to Wilson’s explanation, Justice Robert Rogerson agreed to withdraw both the arson and indecent exhibition charges.