A Nelson man who found RCMP surveillance cameras containing sensitive photos says he wants an apology and compensation from police.
Dion Nordick, aka Buck Adams, says he found the cameras in trees near the trailer he was then renting in Grand Forks, as he was leaving home after an RCMP raid in June.
“As we were pulling out of the yard, it looked like a deer in the headlights,” he said. “I put my hand out and told the person who was driving to slow down because I didn’t want the deer to jump out and hit us. I looked closer and it looked like an antique camera.”
At first Nordick thought “rippers” or thieves placed the cameras there so they could identify when his place was empty.
“When I grabbed the camera I didn’t think it was the police because I didn’t think police would employ these kinds of tactics,” said Nordick.
After removing the cameras, Nordick checked the flash drives.
“The flash drive on the camera in the front was just surveillance pictures. Inside was a folder that had pictures of my friends coming and going.
“The next camera had that folder and two other folders.
“There were probably 240 pictures, 120 in each file, and they were just one after another, pictures of another investigation.”
Those pictures included dead bodies and victims of domestic abuse, Nordick says.
RCMP Staff Sgt. Dan Seibel said the cameras were placed outside the property as part of an investigation into a grow-op, at a location later subject to a search warrant, and was to capture images of vehicles going in and out.
Nordick disagreed and said he could reach out and grab the camera from his driveway.
“From standing on my driveway, I could basically reach and grab the camera. The facts that the police were saying about it being on public property... was not true,” stated Nordick.
Seibel was unable to comment on the alarming photographs.
Nordick and his lawyer, Jesse Gelber of Trail, still have the cameras and flash drives, but Nordick said they would meet with RCMP this week.
“We’re going to be meeting with them and arrangements have been made,” said Nordick.
“Ultimately, I think they need to pay me compensation for screwing with my life for four months. What I want, at bare minimum, is an apology from the RCMP.”
Nordick, who moved to Nelson in September, is not facing any charges.