The trial of two men accused of kidnapping a Richmond man and his five-year-old son with a firearm got under way Monday in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver.

Donald Stalker and Raymond Truong have pleaded not guilty to the August 2013 abduction of a man who can only be identified by the initials B.L. due to a publication ban, and B.L.’s son J.L.

article continues below

In his opening address to the jury, Crown counsel Jeremy Hermanson said B.L. is expected to testify that on the day of the incident, he was taking his son, whose custody he shared with his former spouse, to lunch.

B.L. was also transporting $300,000 in cash to the person who owned the money, Hermanson told the 12-member jury.

When the father and son were standing outside the dad’s white Mercedes SUV located inside a parkade on Corvette Way — close to No. 3 Road and Capstan Way — where the father lived, three or four men confronted the dad, said Hermanson.

“He was pushed to the ground and his hands bound behind his back by handcuffs,” said the prosecutor. “Both he and his son were placed in the passenger area at the rear of the SUV. A Caucasian male pointed a gun at him. He was searched by members of the group. The keys from the SUV were taken from him as were the keys and the fob for the building.”

B.L. will testify that the SUV was driven out of the parkade by the Caucasian male but soon came to a stop, said Hermanson.

Another man approached the SUV on foot and took over the driver’s position, the Caucasian male moving over to the front passenger seat, he said.

An Asian male behind the wheel drove a short distance and then stopped the vehicle again.

Thanks to a 911 call from another motorist, police arrived at that point and arrested the suspects.

Hermanson told the jury that the evidence will show Truong was in the driver’s seat at the time the SUV was surrounded by police and that Stalker was observed and arrested just outside the vehicle.

A loaded 9-mm semi-automatic handgun was found by police in the rear cargo area of the vehicle, along with the $300,000 in cash. B.L. will provide an explanation for the money at trial, said Hermanson.

Police also searched Truong and found the key to the handcuffs that had been used on the victim, he said.

Issues at trial are expected to include whether Stalker was one of the persons who took the father and son from the parkade, whether Stalker was in possession of a handgun and what sort of advance knowledge Truong had of the incident, laid the Crown.

Donald Campbell, the first Crown witness, testified that he saw three or four people get out of a vehicle and run towards a white Mercedes SUV in the parkade.

Campbell, who was walking towards his own vehicle in the parkade, said he saw a scuffle and what appeared to be a man being forced to the ground, his hands behind his back.

Campbell said he drove his vehicle out of the parkade and then called 911, not sure of what he had seen.

“I felt it could be a kidnapping, or some kind of crime where somebody was taking someone, and I had other thoughts. I thought it may be a prank, or a police operation of some kind.”

Stalker and Truong have pleaded not guilty to a number of charges, including kidnapping with the use of a restricted, prohibited firearm.

The trial is expected to run three weeks and hear from 12 Crown witnesses.

For more stories, go to TheProvince.com