What to make of his actions on the day of his arrest was a central issue Friday during closing submissions at a trial for a Prince George firefighter accused of possessing a stolen jetboat and trailer.
On the morning of May 1, 2013, police called Benjamin Taffy Williams, 39, to say they had received a tip that stolen items were on his property and arranged to drop by in the early afternoon to take a look.
When Williams got off the phone, he quickly hooked the trailer to his truck and left his 6600-block Bench Drive property. Police, who had been keeping an eye on his property, arrested him a short time later.
Crown prosecutor Cassandra Malfair argued his conduct was consistent with knowing the items were stolen.
"Why did he flee when the police called? Why did he assume they were going to arrest him? Because he had a guilty mind," she told provincial court judge Reginald Harris. "He already knew it was stolen when they called, or at least strongly, strongly suspected it was and was willfully blind to that fact."
During testimony, the court heard Williams was pulled over on McClarty Crescent. Malfair suggested he had been heading towards the home of a fellow firefighter and intended to leave the jetboat and trailer there with the intention of retrieving the items once police had left.
Had he intended to turn the items over to RCMP at their detachment, he would have continued on to Foothills, Malfair said.
Conversely, defence lawyer Peter Wilson argued Mounties' decision to call William, even though they had a search warrant in hand, was "highly unusual" and nothing he's come across in the 32 years he's been a lawyer.
"If police decide to engage in conduct that is that unusual, we shouldn't be surprised if Mr. Williams draws some unusual conclusions from it," Wilson said.
He said Williams, who often played pickup hockey with local RCMP, interpreted the phone call as a heads up and had a legitimate concern about being arrested in the presence of his family. His intention was to hand over the items at another location, Wilson said.
"No father wants to be arrested in front of his own family, or in front of his friends," Wilson said.
Had Williams known they were stolen, he would not have stored them in a spot where they could be seen from the road, nor would he have told others he bought them, Wilson told the court. Wilson said Williams bought the boat from a fellow firefighter, someone he trusted, and the boat's "work project" condition, with much of the paint stripped off, speaks to the low price of $9,500 he paid for it.
Malfair countered that the boat's identification and registration numbers had been removed,Williams did not insure or register either the boat or the trailer and there was no bill of sale.
Jetboats of that brand and model went for $30,000 to $40,000 new, Malfair noted. When it was returned to its owner in Fort St. John, he sold it for $18,000 despite its poor condition, she said.
Malfair also said there was nothing in the RCMP's phone call to suggest they knew for sure the items were stolen and that they intended to arrest Williams.
"It is not believable that Mr. Williams would so grossly misinterpret what the police were actually saying," Malfair said. "He is making huge leaps from what they actually said to what he thinks they mean."
Malfair said the RCMP were not engaging in entrapment and calls of that nature are routine. But Wilson noted that an RCMP officer told the court the purpose of the call was to trick his client.
Williams told the court he bought the items from Jeremy Kostyshyn, who continues to face charges of trafficking in stolen property. His case remains before the court.
Harris will release his verdict on the Williams case at a later date.
