NORTH BATTLEFORD — A man arrested at gunpoint after a massive RCMP pursuit involving more than 15 police vehicles, three RCMP detachments and dog services has had his statutory release revoked by the Parole Board of Canada on June 17.
Cody Ian Caron, 43, who was released on statutory release in January after serving two-thirds of a federal prison sentence for drug trafficking and related offences, went unlawfully at large for five weeks before his arrest on April 13.
“Your risk is no longer manageable in the community, and your statutory release is revoked,” said the Parole Board in its decision.
According to parole documents, RCMP deployed significant resources to capture Caron. When officers finally located him, Caron was with seven other individuals, including another offender who was also wanted for being unlawfully at large.
Before being arrested, Caron ran from police into a field.
"You ran until you were located and arrested at gunpoint," say parole documents.
When police searched the vehicle he was driving, they found nearly $10,000 in cash, multiple cellphones and multiple sets of brass knuckles.
He now faces several outstanding charges, including dangerous driving, flight from police, obstructing a peace officer, failing to stop after an accident, mischief, and escape or being at large without excuse.
At his post-suspension interview on April 21, Caron refused to discuss his new charges. He admitted he was driving and evading police. He said he went unlawfully at large because police said he tied someone up, so he ran because he didn’t want to be locked up and wasn’t “thinking properly.”
His parole officer told the Board at Caron’s hearing that listening to him speak was reflective of Caron’s ongoing lack of accountability.
Caron said he knows he needs to work on himself and stop making bad decisions.
In 2022, Caron was banned from North Battleford after being released on bail.
52 prior convictions
According to parole documents, Caron’s criminal record spans roughly 52 convictions since 2003. The Parole Board said that his history shows a “consistent pattern of noncompliance,” including repeated breaches and prior revocations of conditional release. He served his first federal sentence beginning in 2016.
Caron’s convictions include weapons offences, break and enters, theft, identity fraud, assault with a weapon, and assaulting a police officer. He has a history of domestic violence charges and convictions, but he minimizes or denies that past, according to parole documents.
In September 2023, at a traffic stop, Caron fled from police at a high rate of speed through a field onto the highway. Police didn’t pursue. Witnesses reported that Caron drove into oncoming traffic causing other vehicles to drive into the ditch.
In October 2023, Caron took police on a lengthy pursuit that included him driving dangerously through streets. Air support followed Caron until he and his passenger were arrested. Police found one kilogram of methamphetamine in the vehicle.
Gladue factors
According to parole documents, Caron feels like an outcast because of his Metis heritage. He denies he has any Gladue factors such as intergenerational impacts of colonization, intergenerational addiction issues, poverty, racism, or exposure to violence or substance abuse. But the Board said other file information suggests that as a child he was exposed to substance abuse, experienced poverty, and his father spent time in federal custody.
Correctional Service of Canada said these factors affected his stability, his need to provide his children with what he lacked as a child, and his acceptance of crime for gain.
Caron previously admitted he had a problem with cocaine use but says he “cleaned” himself up.
