Mountie who nabbed Ibrahim Ali testifies about arrest of accused murderer

The arrest of Ibrahim Ali, accused of killing a 13-year-old girl, was carefully planned by police, interrupted by a car crash and ultimately yielded an arrest without resistance, a jury trial heard on Thursday. 

Ali is on trial for first-degree murder for the death of the teen victim. He pleaded not guilty in April. The name of the victim is protected by a publication ban.

Burnaby RCMP Const. Jason Cutler told B.C. Supreme Court how Ali was taken into custody just over a year after the murder is alleged to have taken place.

Cutler testified that on Sept. 7, 2018, he and a partner were briefed and given a description of Ali.

They believed he would be a passenger in a blue-grey Dodge Caravan, he said. Other Mounties on the road were keeping an eye out for him.

The officers got word on the radio around 11:30 a.m. that the Caravan was driving on Burnaby's Imperial Street late in the morning, near the Metrotown area. 

Cutler said he saw the minivan driving in the opposite direction of him and his partner. He confirmed the first few characters of the plate.

His partner had the lights and sirens of their cruiser on and angled their car in front of the van, cutting it off.

Cutler got ready to step out of the cruiser and approach the suspect when the scene turned chaotic, he said.

"I heard a loud bang over my right shoulder," Cutler said. "Glass breaking, metal crunching, and in a panic, [I] jumped back into the vehicle."

That sound was another police vehicle with the canine unit inside and an uninvolved bystander vehicle crashing into each other on the busy road.

"It sounded very close," he said. "Everything was moving fast. I was not expecting that."

Cutler, with the canine unit now close behind him, approached the passenger side of the minivan. Ali, he said, was in the front passenger seat. Three others were in the van with him.

Cutler gestured to Ali as he sat in court, identifying him as the man he then arrested.

'There was no struggle'

Ali surrendered without incident when placed under arrest, Cutler said.

"I told him he was under arrest for murder and asked him to step out of the vehicle and show me his hands," he said.

Ali did not resist when Cutler escorted him away from the minivan, the officer testified. "There was no struggle."

After cuffing Ali, Cutler once again informed him why he was being arrested. Cutler said Ali responded "to the effect of, 'no English.'"

Two other officers who could converse with Ali in a language he understood then read him his Charter rights.

Cutler recounted searching Ali and taking him to the Burnaby RCMP detachment. He had a phone and cigarettes on him.

The jury was also shown video of Ali being booked into custody at the detachment. He appears compliant through the process as officers removed his boots and belt while he faced a wall with his hands up. Videos of the booking had not finished screening by the time court adjourned Thursday.

Another Mountie, Cpl. Patrick Vandevelk, testified earlier Thursday. He told the jury about canvassing the apartment building the victim lived in for video and neighbour statements about the victim's last days.

The building superintendent, Ioan Theodor, told the court about the building's layout and what surveillance cameras the building had.

Ali's trial began in April and resumed this week after a pause of about three weeks.

The trial is expected to resume Friday.