Shelburne police lay charges on local men following prank

August 1, 2019 · 0 Comments

Shelburne Police are advising all residents to take pre-cautions when attending local parks in Shelburne.

A small package of drugs was located in a public parking lot early this morning (Thursday July 25). A couple hours later several additional small packages were located in the playground area of Greenwood Park.

Field testing of the contents of these packages indicates that the substance is an amphetamine based drug which can be very dangerous.

The packages are small Looney sized clear saran wrapped bundles with a white, somewhat crystalized substance inside.

“If any similar packages are located by anyone they should not touch them. Please stay by the package keeping people and pets away from them and call police immediately”, states Sergeant Paul Neumann. “If anyone incidentally touches one of these packages or the contents, they are to call 911 immediately for potential medical assistance and to notify police. We are encouraging adults to monitor their children when in public areas, and speak with their children not to touch anything that is found on the ground or on park play equipment. Please check all areas before your children are allowed to play freely”.

Shelburne Police and the Shelburne Town Works Department have been and are continuing to check all parks, schools and public areas.

After a very intense and resource demanding investigation all day on July 25, Shelburne Police have made significant strides in the investigation, including arresting and charging two adult suspects. One was arrested late in the afternoon ON July 29, and the other this morning. There are no outstanding suspects.

The investigation took several turns. The first package of apparent illicit drugs was located by Shelburne Police in the police parking lot, giving a first appearance of someone playing a possible prank. However when several packages were located in Greenwood Park (two on play equipment), and another package in a town parking lot, and further it was revealed that the packages potentially contained dangerous drugs, and the contents appeared to be drugs and packaged as typical street drugs are, the situation quickly became much more concerning. Later in the day it was learned that there was indeed a pre-planned “prank” component to this incident, and that the main goal of the two males involved was to target the Shelburne Police Service and purposely mislead them in an investigation.

Public Mischief is a serious offence under the Criminal Code of Canada which includes putting police into a misleading or false investigation. It is a serious offence because it can cause a significant amount of resources to be used up on a false investigation, taking resources away from other matters (like this situation did), and can also lead to innocent people being wrongful accused and arrested by police.

Both accused are from Shelburne and were arrested and charged as follows:

• 44 year old Jason Flear is charged with Mischief, Public Mischief, and Breach of Probation

• 25 year old Cory Stoneham is charged with Mischief and Public Mischief.

“The safety concern for our citizens, especially the youth enjoying our parks is over”, states Sgt Neumann. “Thank you to all media outlets and the public for their assistance in this concerning matter”. “I also want to thank Shelburne Town Works for putting some of their other duties aside and assisting the Shelburne Police to ensure our parks and public areas were safe until this got resolved”.

The investigation is still ongoing, and charges could be added pending the final results from Health Canada which will verify what the contents of the 5 packages.

If anyone has any information in relation to this or any other case, they are strongly encouraged to contact the Shelburne Police Service at 519-925-3312 or anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or online at www.crimestopperssdm.com.