News

Resident Suing Kawartha Lakes Police Service After Raid On Elm Tree Road Home

September 16, 2021

KAWARTHA LAKES-A local man is suing the Kawartha Lakes Police Service after his home on Elm Tree Road was raided.

The claim was filed with the Lindsay courthouse on July 5, 2021 by lawyers representing Herbert Ben James Vanderburg.

Vanderburg alleges that Kawartha Lakes Police Service executed a search warrant on the property on July 3, 2019 and in doing so damaged property, seized items without proper recording of them and injured Vanderberg and his daughter.

Vanderberg was charged with contravening the medical cannabis act but those charges have since been withdrawn according to the claim.

Vanderburg says the police service “seized property during the raid with was not properly accounted for including a number of silver bars” which were allegedly removed from the property. Post pounders, video surveillance systems, lighting systems and medical cannabis were also allegedly seized. The claim goes on to accuse police of failing to repair damage to the home’s front door which was “destroyed” by the raid.

Vanderburg is asking for $130,000 in damages and for “negligence” as well as costs.

“The defendant has behaved with recklessness, bad faith, arrogance and high handedness, and having shown callous disregard and complete lack of care for the plaintiff and plaintiff’s reasonable interests.” stated the claim.

None of the claims has been proven in court.

Kawartha Lakes Police say they merely assisted another police service in the execution of a Cannabis Act search warrant at the property in question which was part of a larger enforcement project across the province and did not seize or retain property.

“We (KLPS) did not seize or retain any property during the execution of the search warrant,” Police Chief Mark Mitchell told the Police Services Board today. “I spoke to our assigned counsel earlier this week and we will be filing our defence against the claim.”