SURREY TRAFFIC MOUNTIE FACES 15 CRIMINAL CHARGES

SURREY - A Surrey Mountie is accused of trafficking in marijuana,
possessing stolen property, breach of trust and committing a slew of
firearms-related offences.

Const. David Clarke, a Surrey traffic cop with four and a half years
service, has been charged with 15 criminal offences and has been
suspended with pay pending the outcome of the court proceedings and an
internal police code of conduct investigation.

Clarke, 35, is scheduled to appear in Surrey provincial court on Jan.
18. The 15 charges were laid on Monday, but he had been removed from
active duty on Oct. 1, after a member of the public registered a complaint.

"These situations, which in my experience are very rare, are taken
very seriously," said Chief Supt. Fraser MacRae, in charge of the
Surrey RCMP detachment.

"As the entire matter is now before the courts, I must refrain from
further comment out of respect for the judicial process, and the
rights of the accused. Our investigation into the criminal allegations
has been completed, and the charges you see today are the result of
the determination by Crown counsel that these are the appropriate
charges in view of all the circumstances. Constable Clark will remain
suspended until all of these matters, both criminal and internal, have
been dealt with."

Clark is charged with breach of trust by possessing stolen property
including marijuana, identification documents and police property, and
trafficking in marijuana. He's also been charged with possessing the
ID and other items of "various persons" knowing the property was
obtained by the commission of a criminal offence.

Other crimes he's charged with are two counts of unlicensed possession
of prohibited cartridge magazines for a semi-automatic handgun, three
counts of possessing an FN FAL semiautomatic rifle without a license,
three counts of possessing a Colt semi-automatic handgun unlicensed,
three counts of possessing a Glock 9mm handgun unlicensed, possessing
a Mossberg pump-action shotgun unlicensed, and possessing a Remington
Mohawk semi-automatic rifle unlicensed.