Cobourg Police issued a statement concerning the story of a woman who said police still haven’t made an arrest involving an “overwhelming trail of evidence.”
Elizabeth Ewart contacted Today’s Northumberland and Beyond concerning a break-in at her home in downtown Cobourg on October 27.
Ewart stated she felt there was a lack of professionalism concerning the investigation.
Today’s Northumberland reached out to Cobourg Police for comment prior to publishing the story.
A e-mail was sent to both Acting Inspector Jeff Shiels and Chief Kai Liu asking for comment on the incident. A automatic reply was sent immediately back from Acting Inspector Jeff Shiels stating he was away and would be returning April 3, 2018, but “there are many exceptional people in our organization who would be pleased to assist you, if you need to speak with someone right away.”
There was no reply to Chief Liu.
On March 28, 2018 Cobourg Police Deputy Chief Paul VandeGraaf contacted John Draper who operates www.cobourgblog.com because of comments made on Draper’s site, directing people to Today’s Northumberland.
The Deputy Chief directed Draper for an interview with Staff Sgt. Brent Allison concerning the break-in.
“Today, S/Sgt. Brent Allison told me that they know who the suspect is and are in the process of issuing a warrant,” stated Draper in his blog.
Today’s Northumberland were aware of this in conversing with Ewart over several e-mails but chose not to publish it as it may be interpreted as interfering with an ongoing investigation.
After reading the rebuttal by Allison, Ewart re-emphasized, “I’ve always said that the (officer) I was in touch with, has been very polite and sympathetic and we have been in touch a great deal, mainly with me sending him e-mails every time I thought of something or received new information that I thought might be relevant and him responding. But I’d never describe that as being kept in the loop.”
“At the end of the day, it’s been five months since the robbery and, according to Allison, paperwork to create a warrant for the suspect is currently being processed.”
S/Sgt. Allison states police will shortly have a warrant out for the suspect and stated an arrest will likely be soon stated in Drapers post, but Ewart stays she was first told by police they had a suspect on February 27 and were in the process of writing a warrant for his arrest, but a month later, they are still writing the warrant.
“I was told a month ago that paperwork was being processed.”
Ewart said she is adamant she told dispatchers that a suspect was in the house when she called 9-1-1, but even by police records it was almost two hours before they were dispatched to the break-in.
“It’s interesting that the police say the first call was at 5:40 but an officer wasn’t dispatched to the scene until 7:20.”
“I was reporting a burglary, for God’s sake (and I did say the burglar might be in the house) and it took them almost two hours to get there. “
In summarizing the rebuttal, Ewart says, “I’m rather irritated that they said there wasn’t a whole lot of damage.”
“It’s true that the walls weren’t smeared with paint, but things were dirtied and strewn all over the place and lamps, a telephone and a radio were smashed, our telephone wires were cut close to the floor, the doorknob on the backdoor was removed before it was kicked in, linen and clothes were dirtied, not to mention a bed and other things that had to be thrown out, but perhaps that doesn’t qualify as damage.”
In an e-mail addressed to Ewart, on March 28, Allison stated, “I just wanted to let you know that we will be responding to a news article.”
“The news article published a series of events that were incorrect,” stated Allison in the e-mail to Ewart.
“I just wanted to make you aware.”
But Ewart states, “Sgt. Allison has tried his best, but when one third of his summary amounts to: “They should have done a better job collecting evidence” I’m glad he’s not defending me.”
“They didn’t collect any evidence from the house. Nothing. It’s total negligence for the police to not take fingerprints when the suspect has just bolted out the front door. If they had, the case would have been solved months ago.”
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
