DAVID EDWARDSEN, who has been charged with 17 drug charges, has a warrant out for his arrest this morning, June 11, after failing to show up in court.
Edwardsen was due to appear at 10:30 a.m. in provincial court but did not show up.
Judge Calvin Struyk issued an unendorsed bench warrant for Edwardsen's arrest on the request of Crown Harold Alkema, who said considering Edwardsen's failure to appear in court, it would be best for him to be brought to court when caught, which is what unendorsed means.
The alternative, an endorsed bench warrant, would mean police are granted the ability to set a person free on conditions after catching them.
On May 30 in Vancouver Supreme Court, Edwardsen was let out on bail with three sureties – people promising to take responsibility for the accused – who could provide the $100,000 bail amount, one of the largest bails ever posted in northern B.C.
Edwardsen, who had been in jail since his arrest at the end of September 2012, had a bail hearing set for October 5 when his then-defence lawyer Greg Cranston asked for an adjournment because he had just received more than 100 pages from crown and wasn't prepared.
Then a second attempt on Oct. 30 and 31 failed even though judge Herman Seidemann III said he didn't think Edwardsen would re-offend in a small community such as Terrace, but Edwardsen would be kept in jail to ensure the public could maintain its confidence in the administration of justice.
On Sept. 19, 2012, after a 14-month investigation, police executed five search warrants on five properties in Terrace and area – Edwardsen’s residence at 604 Old Lakelse Lake Road, two other residences on that same road, one residence on King Ave. in Thornhill and a residence on Bohler Rd.
Emergency Response Team officers, similar to a SWAT team, were part of the officers at Edwardsen’s place due to a concern about weapons, said Terrace RCMP inspector Dana Hart at that time.
Police seized drugs, including more than 500 marijuana plants, from three different grow-ops; 1.5 kg of cocaine; 24 tablets of ecstasy; 17 grams of hashish, 32 grams of magic mushrooms and also prescription drugs, reported police at that time. Investigators also recovered 110 long guns, including rifles and shotguns, and several handguns from two of the search sites, said police at that time.
Four other people were arrested along with Edwardsen but later released; they remained uncharged as of June 7 of this year.
Prosecutors have laid 17 charges against Edwardsen: four counts of trafficking, three counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking, one charge of production of a controlled substance, four firearms charges, two charges for possessing a prohibited or restricted firearm with ammunition, one charge of possessing prohibited weapon without a licence and six charges of unauthorized possession of a firearm.