Man with past links to Hells Angels alleged target of murder plot

​Two St. John's men with criminal histories have been charged with conspiring to murder a man who may have once tried to start a Hells Angels chapter in Newfoundland.

Dustin Etheridge, 26, and John Squires, 34, were arrested Wednesday night.

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They appeared in provincial court in St. John's on Thursday afternoon, and are being held in custody. Their next scheduled court date is later this month.

According to court documents, the pair are charged with conspiring to murder Bradley Summers between April 9 and May 16, and were in possession of a loaded firearm — a handgun — when they were arrested.

Etheridge was also charged with possession of a knife, which was a breach of his conditions from a previous brush with the law.

Summers has alleged ties to Hells Angels, Al Potter

Five years ago, CBC News reported that Bradley Summers may have been trying to open a Hells Angels branch in St. John's.

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In June 2013, Summers was arrested with Al Potter following a joint investigation by the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary and the RCMP into outlaw motorcycle gangs. They were charged with assault and uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm.

Summers wore clothing with Hells Angels emblems as he was paraded through provincial court following his arrest with Potter.

Both men lived in a house on Hamilton Avenue that was firebombed the month before. The firebombing happened the same day as a drive-by shooting on Dauntless Street.

Previous CBC investigation into Etheridge

One of the co-accused, Dustin Etheridge, was the subject of a CBC News investigation five months ago.

At the time, he was soliciting new clients for his business, Twin City Movers, while he was facing bribery and weapons charges.

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Etheridge had been convicted in February 2017 of dangerous operation of a vehicle and breach of probation.

He fled from police after being stopped for speeding in his red Dodge Viper near Deer Lake on the Trans-Canada Highway two years earlier.

The Mountie who pulled him over noticed a "large bulge" in the front pocket of his hoodie.

The officer told Etheridge he was under arrest, but Etheridge drove off — causing the officer to jump back to avoid being hit by the Viper.

The RCMP officer didn't pursue the Viper, but later spotted the car pulled over on the side of the road.

Etheridge apologized for fleeing, and told the Mountie he did it because he was scared.

According to the agreed statement of facts, the "bulge that had been in his sweater was no longer present."

Etheridge expressed remorse for his actions.

"I'm very sorry. I won't be back here again," he said.

But it wasn't long before Etheridge was again before a judge.

He has court appearances scheduled for later this summer, related to charges of bribery, assaulting a woman with a knife, possession of a weapon, damaging property, and a number of breaches.

Squires also has criminal past

John Squires, the other co-accused in the murder conspiracy charge, also has a criminal background.

Squires was arrested in July 2014 with a sawed-off shotgun in his vehicle.

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Police received a report that a man with a gun was parked in an SUV, across the street from the Froude Avenue Community Centre, at 2 a.m.

He was charged with six weapons offences, including having a prohibited weapon, removing the serial number from the gun, and violating a court order to not have a firearm.

Squires did plead guilty to breaching court conditions and was sentenced to time served.

But he walked out of provincial court as a free man in March 2015, after Judge David Orr ruled that the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary had violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in his arrest, and the search of his vehicle was unlawful.

In 2016, the Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal ordered a new trial for Squires.

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In a decision rendered in October 2016, four of five justices that heard the appeal agreed that the trial judge erred in the initial ruling and that the evidence should not have been excluded.