Police raid on Anthony Aust's apartment didn't match tipster information, court documents show

Unsealed court documents show that Ottawa police expected to find a9mmhandgun and evidence of drug trafficking when they conducted a no-knock raid in an apartment tower where AnthonyAustplunged to his death.

But there was no gun recovered.

Instead,Aust, 23,fell from a 12th-floor bedroom windowafter SWAT officers rammed through the apartment door and threw a flash-bang grenade in a so-called dynamic entryjust before 9 a.m. on Oct. 7.

There were six people in the apartment at the time, includingAust'syounger half siblings, ages 12 and 13, his 94-year-old grandmother and his stepfather, who has a heart condition.Aust'sgirlfriend was also in the home.

Aust'sfamily believes he was startled from his sleep and may have jumped from the window after hearing police crash into the apartment. His death is still under investigation by the Ontario Special Investigations Unit (SIU), whichhas interviewed two subject officers, while the third has provided access to his notes.

The document that lawyers forCBC'sTheFifth Estatefought in court to unsealcontains information that police presented to a justice of the peace to get authorization to searchAust'sapartment.

Initially, the Crown and Ottawa police lawyers refused to release the Information to Obtain (ITO) a Search Warranton the groundstheSIUwas still investigating.It tookCBCsix weeks to successfully petition a judge to partially lift the sealing order.

WATCH | Surveillance footage of 'dynamic entry' by Ottawa police of Aust's home:

Surveillance footage of no-knock raid by Ottawa police

4 years ago

Duration 0:21

This 'dynamic entry' by Ottawa police of an apartment in October preceded the death of Anthony Aust, who fell from a 12th-storey window in that unit.

The ITO consists of 17 pages, six of which are completely blacked out.

The document states thatAustlived on the12thfloorof an apartment building and that he was out on bail and wearing a GPS ankle bracelet. He was released from jailand put under house arrest at the end of March.

After her son's fatal fall,NhoraAusttold theCBCshe provided information about who lived in the home and the security camera during Anthony's bail hearing.

When pressed by theCBC'slawyers, the Crown acknowledged there was no information in the ITO about children or an elderly person living in the home. The court document also does not indicate that the justice of the peace knew a "dynamic entry" would be usedwhen signing off on the warrant.

"You think that information would be critical to know," said LawrenceGreenspon, the lawyer representing theAustfamily."It would be consistent with the police responsibility to provide full, frank and fair disclosure to the issuing justice. Those details were not disclosed here."

There's also no mention in the ITO that there was a private video surveillance system in the home installed as part ofAust'sbail agreement.

It was that camera that captured video of eight tactical officers, guns drawn, barging unannounced into the apartment. It also captured officers draping a piece of paper over the camera after their entry.

WATCH | Surveillance camera is covered during police raid:

Surveillance camera in Ottawa home covered

4 years ago

Duration 0:21

During the Oct. 7 raid of Anthony Aust's home, a surveillance camera installed in the apartment was covered up.

Ottawa Police are not commenting on the investigation because the SIU has yet to complete its probe.

Tips from 3confidential informants

The redacted detailsin the ITOpertain to the identities of confidential informants and may include information such as criminal records, whether they are paid and if their previous tips have led to successful searches.

Without that information,CBCcannotascertain the reliability ofthesesources.

According to the documents, Ottawa police relied on information from three unnamed informants. Starting in September, detectives started to receive tips that AnthonyAustwas trafficking firearms, cocaine andfentanylfrom his residence onJasmine Crescent, east of downtown Ottawa.

Investigators believed he was usingappson his cell phone to post photos of guns he had for sale, and thathe was storing ammunition inside the home. There were no photos of ads for guns seen byCBCin the court documents.

Prior to the raid, an officer was sent to the building to check the layout. The ITO states that there is an elevator, and two exit stairwells flanking the12thfloor.

Details ofAust'spast criminal record was also put in the ITO.In January,Austwas arrested and charged, along with two other young men, after police found drugs, cash and a loaded handgun during a traffic stop.

Thesearch warrant applicationwas drafted byDet.Const. Matthew Cox, who has been with theOttawa Policedrug unit since 2010. His past duties included going undercover to successfully purchase street drugsand conducting wiretaps.

He was also involved in the planning of a 2016 raid involving dynamic entry that was criticized by a judge this past Februaryfor displayinga "casual disregard for Charter rights." Cox was recently elected as a director for the Ottawa Police Association.

What police found

Based on the information in the ITO, a justice of the peace authorized the search ofAust'shomeon Oct. 7to be conducted between 6 a.m.and 9 p.m.

Aust's68-year-old stepfather Ben Poirier says that during the search, he was pushed to the ground,handcuffed and saw police point their semi-automatic rifles at his 13-year-old daughter.

After the raid, Poiriersays he was taken out to the hallway and watched as 10 plainclothes officers walked into his apartment and conducted a search.

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According to their evidence log filed in court, police found approximately 33 grams of heroin and more than 86 grams offentanyl. They also found a Ziploc container of "buff," or powder that's used to dilute drugs.

The searchnetted a "large" amount of cash,two digital scales,a money counter, a pinkiPhoneand an orange one. No illegal firearm was found, but police did find a Voodoo pellet shotgun inAust'sbedroom.

In a phone interview, RaymondAust, 21, said the pellet gun has a bright orange nozzle and belongs to him, not his brother.

Adocument titled"Report toa Justice,"which detailedthe fruits of the search, was time-stamped10:41 a.m.on Oct. 7,less than two hours afterAust'sdeath. At 10:48 a.m., theSIUtweeted that it was taking over the investigation.

TheSIUdeclined to answerquestions aboutthe removal of evidence orpossiblecontamination of the crime scenefor this story.

Family concerns

Greensponsaid the public needs to know how many search warrants are executed by Ottawa police using no-knock entries and what the criteria is for doing them.

In Ottawa, tactical officers are often deployed in executing search warrants for drugs, firearms and child pornography, or in cases where police worry evidence can be destroyed.

Right now, police don't have to inform the justice of the peace or the judge of how they're going to enter a residence. To prevent death, injury and Charter breaches,Greensponsaid no-knock entriesshould be authorized by judges or justices of the peace.

Only a police officer and Crown are present during a search warrant application before a judicial officer.

"The only peoplein the roomare the police and the Crown, and it's not a matter that somebody will get tipped off by that. There's no reason why[a no-knock entry plan]shouldn't be disclosed and every reason that it shouldbe,"Greensponsaid.

Given that Austwas being monitored by an ankle bracelet and home surveillance,Greenspon said police could have easily arrested him by knocking first.

"They knew or were capable of knowing when he was on the premises,"Greensponsaid. "He was on strict house arrest and not in the position to leave the premises.But despite knowing all that,they carried out a dynamic entry."