Former police commission chair charged with assault

By Jeremy Appel on November 6, 2018.

NEWS FILE PHOTO
The Medicine Hat Provincial Courthouse is seen in this photo. A schizophrenic man who pled guilty to an assault that included throwing a paint canister at a woman’s head, was sentenced Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019 to 150 days in jail.

jappel@medicinehatnews.com @MHNJeremyAppel

A former police commission chair has been charged with assault causing bodily harm against a woman, in addition to facing previously reported fraud charges, the News has learned.

Both alleged incidents occurred when he sat on the commission, from 2012-2017.

Rolf Traichel, 45, is accused of assault causing bodily harm relating to an incident that allegedly occurred March 8, 2016, but the charge wasn’t filed until May 31, 2018, according to court documents.

He was released on $3,000 no-cash bail the next day.

Traichel hasn’t personally appeared in court on that charge since then.

A Lethbridge-based Crown prosecutor was assigned to the case, due to a potential conflict of interest with the Medicine Hat Crown.

An agent for Traichel’s lawyer — Jordan Henrie — made a brief Monday appearance at Medicine Hat Provincial Court, where the matter was adjourned to Nov. 19.

Traichel was also arrested for allegedly defrauding the Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education — where he worked as an IT consultant — of $1 million on Aug. 8, following a six-month investigation.

He faces charges of fraud over $5,000, money laundering and possessing proceeds of crime in relation to that investigation.

Police said at the time that the fraud allegedly occurred between 2010 and 2016, which overlaps with Traichel’s time on the police commission, but he isn’t suspected of any wrongdoing against the police.

Police commission chair Greg Keen, who has sat on the commission since 2014, said he had no idea about the assault allegation against Traichel.

He was unaware of the fraud-related charges until they were announced in August, he added.

“He wasn’t charged until he was off of the commission,” Keen said. “It came as a surprise for sure.”

Medicine Hat Police Service Insp. Tim McGough, who’s in charge of the fraud investigation, declined comment on the alleged assault, citing MHPS policy.

“As practice, we don’t comment on stuff that’s before the courts,” said McGough.

The Catholic school board didn’t respond to request for comment by press time.

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