B.C. ACTS TO SEIZE PROBLEM HOUSE

Latest Raid at Victoria Residence Nets Five Arrests, Guns and Ammo

The province is trying to seize a house that police describe as a
haven for criminal activity.

Victoria police say they have been called 180 times in the last seven
years to the house at 2547 Prior St. The most recent raid on the house
was Thursday, when a tactical team and undercover officers arrested
five people and confiscated a sawed-off 12-gauge shot gun, a replica
submachine-gun and ammunition, said Victoria police spokesman Sgt.
Grant Hamilton.

Brian Lynn Morrison, 38, who was staying at the house, was charged
with possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm with ammunition,
and possession of a firearm contrary to a court order, which stems
from a conviction for possessing a dangerous assault rifle.

Morrison has been under a lifetime firearms ban since 2003. He pleaded
guilty in January 2009 to weapons charges after a YouTube video of him
blasting a couch with an AR-15 was shown in court. He was released
from prison in August.

House owner Robert Earl Marson was also arrested in Thursday's raid.
He was released without being charged.

The house has been a constant headache for police and neighbours in
the area, Hamilton said.

Using its Civil Forfeiture Act, the province launched proceedings to
seize the house last summer, serving Marson notice on July 30, 2009.
Rob Kroeker, executive director of the province's civil forfeiture
office, said it's the first time the province has tried to seize a
house in Victoria under the forfeiture act.

Documents filed Jan. 25 by the province in B.C. Supreme Court allege
that since Marson bought the house near the corner of Cook and Bay
streets in November 2002, it has served as a haven for thieves, and as
a "storefront" for drug trafficking and prostitution. The documents
allege Marson purchased the house with the proceeds of those criminal
activities.

In his handwritten response, dated Aug. 9, Marson denied "each and
every allegation."

The Civil Forfeiture Act has allowed the province to seize $8 million
in property and assets bought with crime money or used for unlawful
purposes since it was enacted in 2006. Often used to seize vehicles,
cash and jewelry, the act has been used only a few times to seize
houses. Two similar seizures concluded recently in Campbell River and
in Vancouver, while in 2007, the province used the act to seize the
Hells Angels clubhouse in Nanaimo.

Under the act, a homeowner doesn't have to have a criminal conviction
relating to activity on the property, as long as he or she is
facilitating criminal acts, Hamilton said.

Yesterday, the two-storey, dark-brown home had its windows boarded up,
and the front porch and yard were littered with discarded furniture.
It stands out among the character homes on the street, which is lined
with cherry blossom trees.

Marson was previously fined $100 under a city bylaw for failing to
remove rubbish or other material on his property.

"It was like a ... drive-through of drugs and prostitution," said
next-door neighbour Bill Dean, describing the home at its worst about
a year ago.

He said about seven neighbours filed victim-impact statements to the
court to ensure the matter was not dealt with lightly. "I've got bars
on my windows. I don't feel this is a safe place for my kids."

Neighbours describe people constantly coming and going from the house,
drug activity, break-ins of vehicles and violent assaults. They're
particularly concerned about weapons found in the home.

Dean and others said seizure of the house might be the only way to
remove the problem. "None of us want them to lose their house, but at
this point we see no alternative."

Kroeker estimates a case like this one could take about 24 to 30
months to work its way through the courts. So far, he said, the
province has won all of its forfeiture cases, since none has been challenged.

Morrison will appear in court tomorrow on the weapons
charges.