Gangster Nick Chan claims he didn't know there was a loaded gun in his truck

September 27, 2017

Claims by gang leader Nick Chan that he was unaware of a loaded, semi-automatic handgun under the seat of the vehicle was driving should be believed, his lawyer argued Wednesday.

Defence counsel Michael Bates said Chan should be acquitted on five weapons-related charges in connection with a March 3, 2010, traffic stop in Calgary.

Bates told Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Scott Brooker it made no sense Chan would be so unco-operative with police if he was aware there was a loaded gun under the driver’s seat of his borrowed truck.

The lawyer admitted Chan was “belligerent” with police, refusing to exit the truck and then later not giving them his name, because he believed he’d done nothing wrong.

“He’s mad, he thinks they’re doing something they’re not supposed to do,” Bates said.

“There’s no reason to contemplate any notion there’s knowledge of something illegal in the truck.”

Chan, a purported leader with the FOB gang, an allegation he denied in his testimony, faces five charges, including possession of a prohibited weapon — a folding knife — and possession of a prohibited firearm with readily accessible ammunition.

Chan was pulled over after police tailed the Tacoma he was driving for about eight minutes.

Despite repeated orders to exit the vehicle he refused and was eventually pulled out.

A subsequent search found a loaded, .32-calibre, semi-automatic handgun and buck folding knife under the driver’s seat.

A bag containing a balaclava and dark clothing was on top of two hatchets and a hammer behind the driver’s seat.

At Chan’s first trial, the search was ruled illegal and he was acquitted, but the Court of Appeal overturned that decision and ordered a new trial.

Crown prosecutor Bob Sigurdson argued Chan’s gang lifestyle and his frequent use of the truck, which he said he got from his brother, Tim Chan, showed he would know the contents of the vehicle.

Sigurdson noted Chan was stopped by police while in the truck — which had a registered owner listed as Community Cars Ltd. — on four occasions between November 2009 and February 2011.

Chan admitted using the vehicle between 2007 or 2008 and 2013.

He was driving the truck on April 23, 2013, when he was repeatedly stabbed outside a Beltline natural foods store.

“He’s the person who regularly uses that vehicle,” Sigurdson said, in arguing Brooker should disbelieve the accused’s story he didn’t know the weapons were there.

Brooker will hand down a ruling in December.