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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday April 16, 2008 - 7 Landscaper wants explanation from police Continued from page 1 The raid turned up nothing. After it was over, Morris said police produced a search warrant indicating they expected he would be charged with production of marijuana and possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking. "It would appear, quite frankly, that we had information that would lead us to get a search warrant and upon entering, I guess we didn't find what had been alleged would be inside," said Halton police public affairs Sgt. Brian Carr Monday. "We had reliable information that would lead us to obtain a search warrant. You're not going to get a search warrant without some concrete information. Something's gone wrong in this instance," said Carr. "This is a very rare occurrence." The raid shocked Morris. "They told me to put my hands up, look to the heavens, Brock, then walk forward," recounted Morris, 48, of how the raid began. First, officers handcuffed his co-worker, Wayne Dickinson, then himself and told him he was under arrest for marijuana possession and drug trafficking, according to Morris who said armed officers were surrounding him from all directions on the property. "I don't even have a record of anything like that," said the resident, who came to Ontario from Montreal in the 1970s, lived in Mississauga's Credit Woodlands area and moved to Oakville nearly six years ago. He has, however, operated his landscape business in this area for about 20 years. Morris, who said a dozen or more tactical officers, many of them armed, swarmed his house, threatened to shoot his guard dogs and led his girlfriend and her two children out of the house with arms over their heads. "I have a (German) shepherd and a bull mastiff and they can be intimidating, but they don't have a right to say they're going to shoot them," said Morris of the three large guard dogs he said he rescued from bad circumstances, has penned beside his home and owns for security purposes. "The guns were drawn only because of the dogs, not because anyone was in fear of anybody in the house, only because of the dogs," said Carr. After a search of the residence, Morris said police assembled in his living room and handed him a search warrant. "I sat here," he explained, sitting on the arm of a sofa, and extending his arms to show how officers had filled his living room after their raid came up empty. He said no one apologized. Morris said he was so shaken, he even found himself blurting an offer to take landscaping quotes. While Morris said he would have shown officers around his house, police must follow prescribed protocols and policies in the course of their duties. Carr said police experience has proved that drug dealers and violence go hand in hand. "It's a lot easier to put the guns away. We always go in prepared for the worst and hope for the best," said Carr. Morris who, on Monday, was calling the officer whose name is on the search warrant, and his superior, wanting answers, was to discuss the issue with the division's staff sergeant as of press deadlines yesterday. Morris said he has not yet filed an official complaint. That will depend upon the answers he receives. "We're the first to make apologies if we've done anything wrong," said Carr. "We can't apologize enough if we've done something wrong, but we do act on information believed to be reliable." The fact that police turned up nothing "would indicate we got some bad information," said Carr. "We're human," said Carr, adding if police can prove that someone misled them in the investigation, they would consider a mischief charge. Morris is now dealing with the fallout of the very public raid. The landscaper said he was at the local coffee shop after the incident and people who know him were asking him if he needed bail money. Morris believes undercover police parked in a business parking lot across the road for two days before raiding his house. According to Morris, an employee of the business across the road called Morris to ask if he knew about the police presence. Thirty seconds later Morris said the police were descending on his house. "I have no track record as far as trafficking, or police record of anything, really," said Morris. He admitted to stealing gas to take a girlfriend to Wasaga Beach when he was 18 and a previous impaired driving charge. "I'm 48 now," he said. Morris, conducting a tour of his house, described his lifestyle. "We're really a farm family." He noted clear, not opaque, plastic is taped across windows of the house to block drafts because the house was constructed circa 1957. Some wiring taped to a wall and along a ceiling is for his kids to use the computer and play computer games, he said. His hydro bills may have been higher this past winter because his co-worker, Dickinson, has been living in a trailer behind the house, he said. And the guard dogs, he rescued from unpleasant circumstances, and are on hand because of break-ins. Plucking a colourful sheet from a side window of the home, Morris said the sheet is not there to hide anything inside, but offers his son and daughter privacy in their bedrooms from the industrial/commercial business next door where, on Monday, a transport truck sat parked not far from the window. Morris said running a business is not easy, finances are often a struggle and his home reflects a very simple lifestyle. His house has a front yard laden with construction equipment related to his business, as well as a barbecue and planters. Down a long, dirt driveway, sits the trailer Dickinson lives in and the pen in which the guard dogs are kept. A side door offers a quick route to the basement where Morris' bedroom is located. Upstairs are the simply-furnished bedrooms of his girlfriend Chris Tapping's 15year-old son and 14-year-old daughter. On the main floor, the kitchen is next to the living room, which houses computer equipment, a couch and other furniture, while off to the side is a parlour-type room in which there is a sofa that Morris calls his "office," and which sits opposite a large-screen TV and a motorcycle. "I support the community," he said, noting he sponsors his kids' soccer team, has at least two World Vision adoptees and even helped when HGTV built a fountain at Toronto's Casey House several years ago. "I'm very proud of it," said Morris, then admitting, "I'm not perfect." Morris said the raid Friday not only saw rush hour commuters along Royal Windsor Drive craning their necks, but left many neighbours asking questions. He, too, has questions. "I'd like to know why they ended up here and why they came to my house and did what they did," he said. Police and Morris continue to discuss the issue. Don't Pay Retail! Factory Outlet Sale We Install Price Break Event. SPECIAL SAVINGS - CANADIAN DOLLAR ON PAR SALE Columns Wainscoting 20-60% Off FLOOR CLEARANCE See Elizabeth Interiors for details. Over 70 Smooth or Patterned Profiles 409 BRANT ST. BURLINGTON 905-333-6670 1-888-846-7845 Monday to Saturday 9:30-5:30, Thursday & Friday 9:30-9:00, Sunday 12:00-5:00 Visit our website or showrooms for prices, design ideas. In home design consultation available. w w w. e l i z a b e t h i n t e r i o r s . c o m 201 Millway Ave., Unit 6, 416-245-1115 (One light north of Hwy. 7 & Jane) Showroom Hours: Mon-Fri 9-5, Thurs until 7, Sat 10-3