A prolific offender is on trial in the Chilliwack Law Courts this week.
Jeffrey Michael Kizmann, 41, faces six counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking and one count of possessing stolen property. Kizmann is in custody and sat in the prisoner’s box as B.C. Supreme Court Justice Michael Thomas heard details of the case Monday (March 6).
On April 12, 2021 a man who’d had his Stihl chainsaw stolen believed he saw it in a Facebook Marketplace listing. He had his brother reach out to the seller and arrange a meeting in the parking lot of the Sardis Sports Complex at 5725 Tyson Road.
He also contacted Chilliwack RCMP, who urged him to call off the meeting. When he insisted on having his brother follow through, police arranged to have a surveillance team watching. Five officers who were there that night are expected to testify at the trial. The first to take the stand told the court the meeting was set for 7:30 p.m. on the side of the parking lot closest to the Sardis Library.
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He said he was skeptical that the seller was going to show, and it wasn’t until around 8:30 p.m. that a silver Honda Civic rolled into the parking lot and parked next to the buyer’s vehicle. The officer watched a man get out of the Civic, open the trunk of the car and allegedly pull out a chainsaw. Police slowly moved in and when they were confident they could intercept him before he could get back into his car and take off, two of them told him he was under arrest.
The officer who testified said he pulled Kizmann off to the side while other officers searched the Civic. They allegedly found “a significant amount of drugs” in the vehicle, enough to move ahead with six possession charges.
The car was not registered in Kizmann’s name and he was prohibited from driving in B.C. at the time.
The officer testified that Kizmann was startled, but he was “relatively cooperative” as he was arrested. He didn’t struggle and no force was required.
Defence didn’t apply much heat to the testifying officer beyond getting an admission that most Stihl products are orange, suggesting the chainsaw allegedly in Kizmann’s trunk question may not have been the one that was stolen. Defence is likely to more aggressive with the officers who searched the car and processed drug evidence.
The trial is scheduled to take four days.
Kizmann has a long history in the Chilliwack courts, dating back to 2000.
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eric.welsh@theprogress.com
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