THUNDER BAY — A witness at the trial for a city police officer told the court Thunder Bay Police Service officers entered her apartment without a warrant and what followed was “absolute chaos.”
The trial for Staff Sgt. Michael Dimini, who was charged in Dec. 2023 with breach of trust and obstruction, continued on Tuesday.
The court heard on Monday that Thunder Bay police officers attended a Frederica Street apartment the evening of Nov 24, 2020 to keep the peace as Dimini’s then father-in-law, Clody Marson, attempted to buy back a TV that was stolen from his storage area.
The TV was posted online by Derek Turner and his girlfriend at the time, Cassandra Stachiw.
Stachiw testified on Tuesday that she waited for the person who purchased the TV on the stairs of her apartment building, and when she saw a marked police SUV arrive, she took the TV back up to her apartment.
She then went back downstairs, without the TV, and two officers informed her it was stolen and followed her up the stairs to retrieve the TV. She said she put the TV down in the hallway and now more officers were at her door
“I was standing in my doorway. I was told they had to search my apartment,” she said.
She told them no, and asked if they had a warrant.
“They said no, there was stolen property in my apartment and they didn’t need one.”
Stachiw then told the officer standing in her doorway the stolen property was in the hallway, and she testified the officer told her that didn’t matter, there could be more inside.
She said one officer was doing the talking and described him as about six feet tall with a stockier build.
The officer then told her to move or they would move her, so she moved out of the doorway, she testified.
When asked by the Crown what happened when the police entered the apartment, Stachiw said it was “absolute chaos.”
There were three other people in the apartment — Turner and two individuals who were selling drugs out of Stachiw’s apartment at the time.
The officer that spoke to her in the doorway kept asking where Turner was — there were warrants out for his arrest at the time. The officer also called her several derogatory names, she told the court.
Turner, Stachiw and another individual were arrested by officers.
The charges against Stachiw were later withdrawn and she has no criminal record.
She testified she was under the influence of drugs the night of the incident but has now been sober for four years.
Derek Turner Is serving life in prison for second-degree murder for his role in the death of Jordan Lapointe in October 2021.
None of the allegations against Dimini have been proven in court.
He was also charged with two counts of assault stemming from separate incidents. Dimini was found not guilty in both assault trials held earlier this year.
