Colten Lafond, who also has a pending charge for attempted murder, is escorted to Court of King's Bench by a Deputy Sheriff. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Court

Standoff suspect enters not guilty pleas to gun charges

Oct 7, 2024 | 5:00 PM

The circumstances surrounding a tense situation in Prince Albert’s Crescent Heights neighbourhood and a standoff that lasted eight hours are being discussed this week at Court of King’s Bench.

Colten Michael Lafond who was arrested on March 23, 2023, is on trial. Guilty pleas were entered to a dozen charges related to the seizure of shotgun, rifle and ammunition.

The Crown’s first witness was Cst. Trevor Chester, a 10-year member of the Prince Albert Police Service who assisted with the arrest of Lafond at 2530 MacDonald Ave. Lafond was wanted at the time for attempted murder.

Chester explained a surveillance team had received information Lafond was living at the house. Police had been watching the house for two days and during that time observed multiple vehicles and people coming and going.

Two of those vehicles, a black Dodge Avenger and a silver Ram had been involved in recent flights from police.

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On the day of the incident at around 3 p.m., Lafond pulled up in the driveway in the Dodge avenger and moved quickly to the house. There was also a female passenger in the vehicle.

Upon seeing Lafond, police immediately surrounded the two-story house and blocked of the road to traffic.

A picture taken at the time of the incident. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

Over the course of the next eight hours, using a megaphone, and with the assistance of a tactical team, police officers would call repeatedly for Lafond to come out.

There were three other people in the house and all exited within the first two hours. One of those people was a shirtless Waylon Daniels, who has been associated in the past with Lafond.

Near the conclusion of the standoff, police smashed a number of windows and deployed tear gas. Lafond was soon after found hiding in the attic above one of the bedrooms.

Due to the tear gas still lingering in the air, officers were not able to search the house until the next day and would find a 22 Mossberg assault rifle in a downstairs bedroom in the ceiling tiles. A 12 gauge sawed-off shotgun was located in the heating ducts.

Ammunition for the rifle was located in the console of the vehicle Lafond had been driving.

When asked by Crown Prosecutor Natasha McLean how he knew it was Lafond moving from the vehicle to the house, Chester noted his previous dealings as a police officer with Lafond.

“Because I know who he is,” he said confidently.

Chester was however unable to confirm whether Lafond was the registered tenant or was even living at the house.

Upon cross-examination, defence lawyer Loree Richardson had Chester confirm there were over the course of the 48 hour surveillance period, multiple people coming and going from the residence.

A total of two days have been set aside for the trial and among those expected to testify on Tuesday is the landlord who previously told paNOW there were a bunch of “squatters” staying there, and he did not know Lafond was among them.

The attempted murder charge has to do with an incident from the morning of March 17, 2023, when police were dispatched to a residence in the 700 Block of Branion Drive for a report of a weapons complaint involving a male who had been shot in the head at a nearby residence.

The trial is scheduled for continuation Jan. 27 at Prince Albert Provincial Court.

nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @nigelmaxwell