Clement Chaboyer was found hiding in this small rink area outside Midtown Community Hall, which at the time of his arrest in April, 2024 was only concrete and dry. (Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Court proceedings

Verdict reserved for Midtown gun incident

Jan 20, 2026 | 2:09 PM

A man found hiding in a Prince Albert community club skating rink, had pulled a gun on two strangers and upon being arrested, gave police a false name.

Those details were shared at Clement Chaboyer’s trial, which wrapped up Tuesday morning at provincial court. The verdict has been reserved by Judge McAuley to Feb. 11.

The case dates back to April, 2024, when police were called to the 500 block of Ninth St. E. for a report of a man with a gun.

The man who called police testified he had seen a man and a woman enter the small rink area outside Midtown Community Hall and engage in suspicious behaviour. The pair was observed peeking over the boards to make sure they were not being watched.

Upon noticing their actions had not gone unnoticed, the pair began walking on a grass path towards the witnesses, and the man who was carrying a bag, pulled it off his shoulder and began to pull something out.

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“The way he drew it out, it didn’t look like a bat, it looked like a gun,” the witness testified.

The man begins jogging across the street towards the victim and that’s when the two witnesses went inside a nearby residence, locked the door and called police.

As police officers were already in the area doing patrols they arrived on scene about a minute later and upon searching the area found Chaboyer hiding in the small rink area.

“He appeared very nervous, and was shaking and sweating profusely,” an officer testified.

Chaboyer who initially gave police a false name was later identified through previous dealings with police and in addition to these charges has other outstanding matters.

After the arrest, a K9 officer located a loaded sawed off shotgun leaning up against on the exterior of the rink boards.

“”There was fresh human scent on the firearm,” Crown Prosecutor Wyatt Bernier said.

A forensic analysis later confirmed the gun was in fact a prohibited weapon and Chaboyer did not have a license to possess it.

In his closing arguments, Bernier stated the central issues in the case are whether Chaboyer was the same person observed by the witness and the one arrested by police. The second issus is whether he had possession of the gun.

Bernier then noted the clothing descriptions matched, the facts Chaboyer was hiding from officers and the loaded gun was 20 feet away from him.

“There’s really no other explanation,” he said, adding the Crown’s case would also be very different if there was evidence of heavy foot traffic.

“There’s only one suspect.”

Defence lawyer Evan Strelioff argued there was no direct evidence to show Chaboyer knew gun was there. He also stated the fact Chaboyer was hiding proves nothing, adding the same behaviour is common amongst people who are on warrants or using drugs.

In addition to noting Chaboyer’s physical traits at the time of the arrest (shaking and sweating) which could be indicators of recent drug use, Strelioff also acknowledged the fact Chaboyer provided police with a fake name.

“That’s the kinda thing people do when they are trying to avoid warrants,” he said.

Strelioff added based on the evidence provided, a stronger argument can be made it was someone else who threatened the witnesses: The man observed by them was seen talking on a phone and had a bag. Chaboyer had neither a phone or a bag when arrested by police.

The woman who was seen with the man was never located, and there was no analysis of the gun for DNA or fingerprints.

“What we’re left with is Mr. Chaboyer hiding,” Strelioff said.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @nigelmaxwell