Carjacking trial continues
By Delon Shurtz on May 13, 2021.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com Fort Macleod RCMP officers didn’t have to wait long before the driver of a stolen vehicle sped toward them on Highway 2 south of town early in the morning of Oct. 21, 2019.But before Officer Liam Tidd could place a spike belt on the highway, the stolen 2005 Hyundai Tuscon flew past them, travelling at about 200 km-h.
Tidd was one of several Crown witnesses who testified Wednesday in Lethbridge provincial court during the trial for Cory Ray Williams. Williams faces numerous charges, including kidnapping, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, assault with a weapon, flight from police, dangerous driving, uttering threats to cause death, housebreaking and robbery.
Court was told Wednesday the RCMP chased the driver of the stolen Tuscon but lost him in Fort Macleod. He was being tracked by a cellphone in the vehicle, however, and officers from Brocket took up the chase, which eventually ended back in Fort Macleod where, at about 2 a.m., officers found the Tuscon abandoned.
A few hours later Fort Macleod RCMP responded to a report of a residential break-in and theft of a 2001 Ford Windstar. That vehicle was found nearly 24 hours later abandoned on 13 Street North in Lethbridge.
Lethbridge police received complaints about 6 p.m. on Oct. 22 about a man brandishing a sword on 2 Avenue South. While police responded to the call, they received information of an attempted carjacking in the area.
Crown witness Richard Neudorf testified he was sitting in his vehicle when a man opened the passenger door and held a knife to his throat. Neudorf was able to grab the weapon and disarm the assailant, who then jumped on a bicycle and fled.
The series of events began just before midnight on Oct. 20 when, according to an agreed statement of facts submitted to the court, the accused’s brother, Jonathan Williams, contacted Lethbridge police and told them his brother had a machete and was attacking him at his residence on 5 Avenue North.
Williams left before police arrived, but 10 minutes later, and barely two blocks away, Wesley McNeil was sitting in his Hyundai Tuscon outside McDonald’s restaurant on 5 Avenue North when a masked man approached and held a machete against his throat.
McNeil testified on Monday and said he was forced to drive to various locations in Lethbridge, before they headed toward Standoff. On the way there, McNeil was told to pull onto a gravel road, where he was ordered out of the vehicle, and the carjacker took off toward Lethbridge.
McNeil flagged down a pickup truck heading toward Standoff, but while he was talking to the driver, the carjacker returned. McNeil clung to the side of the truck while the carjacker chased it toward Standoff. RCMP attempted to stop the Tuscon, but it fled toward Fort Macleod where Officer Tidd was waiting.
Court was told McNeil and Neudorf never saw their assailant’s face and were unable to identify him.
The Crown was expected to call three more witnesses today before concluding its case against Williams. Follow @DShurtzHerald on Twitter 4
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