Extortion and harassment charges dropped against former NHL Barrie police officer

On the day Barrie Police Sgt. Bruce Gardiner’s trial date was scheduled to be set when all charges against the former National Hockey League player were abruptly dropped by the Crown this morning.

The veteran Barrie police officer, now 53, had been charged with criminal harassment and extortion on February 4, 2022.

Both the Crown attorney and Gardiner’s defense team were scheduled to appear virtually in a Barrie courtroom Wednesday to set a trial date.

Gardiner’s defense attorney, Kim Schofield, confirmed that the charges against him had been dropped.

“In light of all the evidence the Crown heard, they exercised their discretion and withdrew the charges,” she said in a telephone interview.

Several adjournments over the past month have delayed the start of the trial.

Court documents obtained by Barrie Today, an affiliate of Bradford Today and Innisfil Today, alleged that Gardiner harassed and, “without reasonable justification or excuse and with intent to obtain compliance,” threatened to publish “sensitive photographs” of the plaintiff, contrary to law.

When the charges against Gardiner were announced in February 2022, Barrie police said the alleged events occurred while he was off duty between March 2016 and January 2018 and stemmed from his conduct toward another member of the police department. city ​​police.

In July 2021, Barrie Police Chief Kimberley Greenwood, who has since retired, said she learned of the allegations and ordered an investigation into Gardiner’s conduct. He was immediately suspended from work with pay.

An investigation by the police department’s Professional Standards Unit led to the filing of the two charges. No other details about the charges have been released.

There is a ban on publishing information that could identify the applicant, as well as any information heard at the preliminary inquiry.

A spokesman for the city’s police department declined to comment on what happened this morning.

“The Barrie Police Service reserves the right to comment on what happened this morning at the Ontario Court of Justice and respectfully refers any inquiries to the Office of the Crown Prosecutor,” said Peter Leon, police communications coordinator from Barrie.

An email to the Crown Attorney’s office was sent to their lawyer about the case, but they did not respond to questions. before publication.

“There are some very troubling aspects of this case in terms of senior members of the Barrie Police Service and the prosecution of Bruce Gardiner,” Schofield said. “There is an ongoing OPP investigation into this.

“The decision to go ahead and file internal complaints against Bruce was not motivated by the complainant herself,” she added.

Schofield called the whole situation “problematic.”

“These allegations came out in 2016 to 2018, so why in God’s name is it being brought up now? So that is the question that the OPP is looking into and what role senior members of the Barrie police force played in that decision to lay charges.”

Schofield also confirmed that the Gardiner case is linked to the ongoing Police Services Act tribunal involving Insp. of Barrie Police. Valarie Gates, who is the wife of Barrie Police Chief Rich Johnston. Gates faces two counts of discreditable conduct.

Schofield said the OPP is looking into how the allegations against Gardiner were handled, with “potential issues” related to conflict of interest.

“We’ll wait and see what the findings are, but I don’t think it’s going to paint Barrie police in a positive light, let’s put it that way,” she said.

Schofield also said no deal had been reached that would result in the charges against Gardiner being dropped today.

“The case against Bruce suffered from weaknesses from the outset which we have repeatedly brought to the Crown’s attention,” she added. “And to their credit, the Crown attorney’s office, they listened to us … and dropped the charges.”

Schofield also said the allegations against Gardiner and numerous court appearances had “destroyed” his life for the past two and a half years.

“He’s brought shame on his family and it’s very hard for them to deal with,” she said.

“He is a prominent member of the community. The fact that we pay lip service to the presumption of innocence except in cases of charges like this because he has been prevented from fully participating in his community because of this,” the lawyer added.

Whether Gardiner continues his career with the Barrie Police Service remains to be seen, but Schofield said his biggest concern is being an active member of the community and restoring his reputation.

Gardiner played in 312 NHL games, scoring 34 goals and adding 54 assists during stops in Ottawa, Tampa Bay, Columbus and New Jersey from 1996-97 to 2001-02. He was selected in the sixth round (131st overall) of the 1991 NHL Entry Draft by the St. Louis Blues.

He also played with the Barrie Colts Junior B team in the late 1980s when they were in the Central Ontario Hockey League before playing college hockey with Colgate University in Hamilton, NY.

Gardiner’s hockey career also included stops in the Russian Super League and Finland. His professional hockey career ended in the 2004–05 season with the Adirondack Frostbite of the United Hockey League.

Gardiner came up through the Barrie Minor Hockey Association and was inducted into the Barrie Sports Hall of Fame in 2017.