Two men accused of conspiring to murder an alleged Hells Angels affiliate were escorted past media cameras into provincial court in St. John’s Thursday afternoon.
Dustin Etheridge, 26, and John Squires, 34, were arrested in the centre of St. John’s late Wednesday afternoon by members of the RCMP/RNC Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit. After being formally charged, they were remanded into custody to await their next court appearance, later this month.
The men are charged with conspiracy to commit murder, various offences related to the carrying of a loaded handgun and breaches of court orders.
Neither Etheridge nor Squires is a stranger to the court, and neither is the man they are alleged to have conspired to murder: Bradley Summers, who was arrested with Al Potter in 2013 in connection with a police investigation into outlaw motorcycle gangs. Both men were charged with assault and uttering threats against multiple victims, some listed on court documents as “unknown.”
Summers and Potter, who wore Hells Angels T-shirts when they were escorted into the courtroom, are said to have been living at a Hamilton Avenue home that was firebombed in May 2013.
Etheridge is scheduled to appear in court on other matters this summer, including assault with a weapon, possession of a dangerous weapon and bribery.
He was convicted in a Corner Brook court last year of dangerous driving, after he sped away from police in his Dodge Viper on the Trans-Canada Highway near Deer Lake in 2013.
Etheridge, who had a suspended licence at the time, was driving at a speed of 123 km/h when an RCMP officer pulled him over and noticed a bulge in the pocket of his hoodie. When the officer asked Etheridge to empty the pocket, Etheridge sped off. He was located on the side of the highway about five kilometres away, and the officer noticed the bulge in his pocket was gone.
Etheridge was sentenced to 60 days in prison, to be served on weekends.
Squires was charged with weapons offences in 2014 after police received a report of a man sitting with a sawed-off shotgun in a vehicle on Froude Avenue. He was acquitted after a provincial court judge ruled police had no right to search his vehicle, but the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal later ordered a new trial, saying the judge had made a mistake in excluding the evidence.
Twitter: @tara_ bradbury
