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4 - THE PORT PERRY STAR, Tuesday, October 30, 2001 "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" "Shots fired" The 1994 robbery of a Port Perry bank remains fresh in most local residents' minds even now, seven years after the fact. Three police officers and two civilians were shot, the town of Port Perry was thrust into the media spotlight and a career criminal -- Mickey McArthur -- was arrested, charged, found guilty and finally sentenced. He now sits behind bars, contemplating his upcoming appeal. Here, in Part Two of 'Shots fired', The Star's own Rik Davie recounts that memorable evening. Because certain matters pertaining to the events are still before the courts, only information already in the public domain is used in this story. By Rik Davie Port Perry Star On the evening of Oct. 20, 1994, Detective-Sergeant Chuck Mercier was sitting in his comfortable Port Perry home surrounded by his wife and growing family when his pager went off. The occurrence was not unusual for the veteran homicide investigator, whose line of work necessi- tated calls taking him from his home and into the dark- est world of police investi- gation. This call would be differ- ent. "It was my fifth year in homicide and we were in the middle of one of the darkest periods in Durham Region," said Mr. Mercier, who has since climbed to the rank of Deputy Chief of the Durham Regional Police Service. "You have to remember that in 1991 in Durham Region we had 13 homi- cides, and in the period from Sept. 14, 1994 until the night of Oct. 20, 1994, 12 persons would be shot in robberies in the region," Deputy Chief Mercier told The Star recently. "It is not a time any of us who worked major cases will soon for- get." When the then Det.-Sgt. Mercier took the call, the news brought his work home in more ways than one. "Usually, 1 would be called and go first to a police facility and collect my things and proceed to a scene," Deputy Mercier said. "In this case, my home is in Port Perry and not far from the scene and | was in the position of being among the first officers at the scene." Deputy Mercier got to the scene moments after two suspects had run from the Port Perry Plaza parking lot. "Information was sketchy at first and the scene was very, very, fresh," recalls the deputy chief. "The officers and the two civilians had been removed from the scene and we (the first offi- cers) were in the position of having to protect a huge crime scene that basically included most of the park- ing lot." For Deputy Mercier, the shooting of fellow officers was a strain on his profes- sionalism, but nothing com- pared to what would even- tually be in store for him and his police service. "Your training kicks in and you concentrate on doing the job. You try to keep a focus on the job and think about the personal aspects later," said Mr. Mercier, who is the only person outside the RCMP ever to be recog- nized by the federal police service for his expertise in major case management. "l was at the scene with- out a phone, a gun or other equipment... and very con- scious of that," said Deputy Mercier. "I was able to get a phone later and my wife called me. She was upset and she asked me what was going on. | gave her the usual story about every- thing being under control, but she was not having any of that." While the two suspects were making their escape they stormed the home of Harry and Marjorie Pearce, taking the seniors hostage and forcing Mr. Pearce to drive them to where their get-away car waited at the rear of the Port Perry hospi- tal. Deputy Mercier's wife was well aware of something being wrong... they lived very near the Pearce home. "She said to me, 'there are lights and police in the backyards, don't tell me there's nothing going on," Deputy Mercier recalled. "I realized what was happen- ing and you know, you are torn, | mean you have these two places (home and the crime scene) that duty tells you to go to and it takes a lot to swallow and just do the job. My wife has been PROJECT HAD: Investigators from three police forces (DRPS, OPP, Kingston) came together in a team named after the book Mickey McArthur wrote about his career as an armed robber, "I'd Rather Be Wanted Than Had." Top L-R: C. Carr, L. Neville, S. Pinkney, G. MacGregor, R. Kluem, E. Kislewich, D. Campbell, J. Douglass. Bottom L-R: D. Kimmerly, M. Menor, |. Wootton, R. Rollauer, F. Howard, G. Heasman. the spouse of a police offi- cer a long time and fortu- nately she knew what pre- cautions to take, so that I could do my job." While Deputy Mercier, with the help of other police officers and an outstanding effort by local firefighters from the Port Perry station, kept the scene intact, Police Constable Dave Robinson, a forensics officer with the service, was getting a call at home. : "We were in the middle of teaching a Scenes of Crime Officer (SOCO) course to regular officers and had just completed a day's work when | was called," Const. Robinson said. "We collect- ed gear and headed for Port Perry as quickly as we could before the scene could be contaminated. We were for- tunate that the first officers responding and the other people there had a good sense of what was important and we found the scene taped off pretty well." Const. Robinson said that for the forensics officer the personal aspect of the case has to take a backseat to what must be done. "You know that people have been shot and you know that fellow officers have been hurt, and... well | knew each of those guys... but the focus of all our train- ing in forensics is to be thor- ough and we are aware that mistakes on our part can hurt a case way down the line, so you focus," Const. Robinson said. "You get tun- nel vision on the scene and try to make sure you miss nothing." Evidence was abundant at the scene as officers col- lected shell casings and photographed the bank, the cruiser, and the chunks blown from the brick pillars in the plaza which are still visible to this day. While all this was taking place, Det. Dave Kimmerly spotted a red Camaro mak- ing a U-tum near a police roadblock and as he raced to assist his fallen comrades and took the time to note the license number. After witnesses gave a description of the car parked at the Port Perry hospital, members of the investigative team that included members of the robbery, major crime, tacti- cal support and uniform divisions began to check registrations and known associates of the car's owner. The name of Mickey McArthur, a well-known armed robber and author of the how-to book 'I'd Rather Be Wanted Than Had', came up along with Kingston area addresses and a red camaro. The following morning, acting on their own informa- tion and tips, police officers converged an two Kingston area residences and heavily armed cops took McArthur, 42, and his brother Angus 28, into custody. Then came the leg work. The best interviewers the Durham Regional Police Service had, including Det. Jim Douglass (now Staff- Sergeant at 26 Division and a major case veteran), took over. "We conducted hundreds of interviews and for the first two months many of us worked seven days a week on this," Staff-Sgt. Douglass said. "It was hard on home life but there was never a problem getting volunteers to doit." : The public came to police in droves and the reams of paper had to be dealt with. "We would do the inter- views and then we would meet with the senior inves- tigators," Staff-Sgt. Douglass said. "Then it would be determined which leads should be followed and teams would be assigned to them. It was arduous, but necessary work." Years later during their trial, a jury found Angus McArthur innocent of the crimes in Port Perry and no other person has ever been tried as Mickey's accom- plice. McArthur, after being found guilty by an Ontario Court of Justice Judge and jury, would be tried in a failed bid to have him declared a dangerous offender on top of the 17- year prison term for the Port Perry shootings. That decision, as well as the sentence in the original trial, are under appeal. Seven years later, the scars remain on the brick of the Port Perry Plaza and on the men who handled the case... and lived it. "I would like some clo- sure," Const. Mark McConkey told The Star recently. "This is still before the courts and maybe that says something about the system we work under, | don't know. I just know that for me, it's not over until it's over." Constable Rob Redford is now a veteran of front line policing and the baby-faced innocence in the 1994 photo is gone. He married the girl he was dating at the time and the two are parents now. Has it affected him? "I think it has made me a more aware police officer," Const. Redford said. "It makes me remember that every situation | find myself in has the potential to turn bad." Deputy Mercier said that the affect on him was two- fold. "From a police perspec- tive, | think we proved the worth of major case man- agement with this, and other cases at the time," Deputy Mercier said. "From a personal perspective, | live and | shop here. | have never turned into that park- ing lot without seeing the police cruiser parked there and the yellow tape." For Staff-Sgt. Jim Douglass the photo on his filing cabinet says it all. The famous picture of Warren Ellis, wounded behind the wheel of the bullet-shattered cruiser, is the first thing you see, eye level, in your face. "It is there for young offi- cers, and new arrivals at 26 Division and as a reminder to myself, to never relax. Be vigilant always and be pre- pared always," Staff-Sgt. Douglass said. "It shows that police work is police work and there are no safety zones." Mi ----