'A terrifying and senseless ordeal' 

By MARK BONOKOSKI <http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/bonokoski.html> -- Toronto Sun
The local newspaper -- the Innisfil Scope -- painted a graphic portrait of the Nottawasaga OPP's takedown of Jonathan Logan, telling of how a "high-risk arrest using firearms" ensued after a rifle-toting man dressed in camouflage was spotted at a nearby school. 

The Barrie Examiner followed suit with a headline which read, "Man seen carrying gun near school," and then heightened the tension by noting the incident occurred as a minor-league soccer game was under way. 

If that were the case, then how is it that 29-year-old Jonathan Logan was only charged with careless storage of a firearm, and with absolutely nothing relating to the alleged events at the school? 

The answer, of course, is that Logan had been doing absolutely nothing wrong when the cops were called. 

Still, a man with a gun near a school? To a passerby, it would certainly be a realistic cause for concern. 

Outside the village of Baxter, on a crow's flight path betwixt Alliston and Barrie, is a 242-hectare parcel of bush and farmland upon which Logan has written permission from its owner to hunt the groundhogs chewing up his pasture and the coyotes which are threatening his free-ranging calves. 

And this is what Logan was doing on the evening all hell broke lose. He was on the prowl for groundhogs and, by his lawyer's estimation, he was never closer than 300 metres to the school in question, was hunting with his rifle pointing in the opposite direction, and had packed up the moment he first noticed children arriving to play soccer. 

It should also be noted that Logan has a valid Ontario hunting licence, all his guns are properly registered and, when he left that farmer's field, he followed every safety rule when it comes to the transportation of a weapon -- unloading it first, and then locking it away in its carrying case. 

"This man knows the rules and follows the rules," said Logan's Thornhill lawyer, Edward Burlew, a specialist in firearms law. "In fact, Jonathan Logan has never had so much as a speeding ticket. 

"What happened to him is totally monstrous." 

When Logan arrived home from his hunting trip, his wife, Angela, and their two young children were playing in the front yard. Their three-year-old son, Joshua, who had a heart transplant when he was just three weeks old, and who must be fed on the hour through a tube to his stomach, was about to be taken inside for his medication. 

No sooner had Logan pulled into the driveway, however, than the road seemed filled with police cruisers and, within seconds, he was on the ground, handcuffed and with two OPP officers pointing weapons at his head. 

Next thing he knew, and he has sworn an affidavit to it happening, his pants were dropped to his knees, and the rubber-gloved hand of a policeman was frisking his nether regions for whatever he might be hiding. 

Logan then claims the only way his family could get back into their home, and for young Joshua to get the medication he needed, was for him to sign a note giving police permission to search his house without a warrant. 

Nottawasaga OPP Insp. Mark Allen denies this to be the case, indicating that even if Logan had waited for a warrant --meaning his home would be "frozen" until one was obtained -- his family still would have still been able to enter the home, escorted, to feed and medicate their son. 

Insp. Allen also denies Logan's claim that the police frisk was "invasive," and not simply a superficial pat down. 

It was after the search of Logan's home was completed, however, that the charge of unlawful storage of a firearm was laid. Nothing to do with hunting on that farm. Nothing to do with the school. Nothing to do with a soccer game. And nothing to do with the weapon in his truck. 

"The police response was done by the book," Insp. Allen said. "It was a call about a man with a gun." 

Carl Banting runs the Wolf's Den, a successful hunting and archery outfitter near Baxter. He knows Jonathan Logan well, and is "incensed" over what happened to him. 

Banting has also spent 35 years in policing, 10 with the OPP, and the remainder with the South Simcoe police department and the First Nations police on Christian Island. 

"Jonathan Logan is a clean-cut, hard-working young lad who has the majority of the community on his side," Banting said. "We're all incensed about what happened to him. 

"How would you like it if half the town drove by when you are surrounded by police and standing there with your pants around your knees? 

"Can you imagine how traumatic was it for his wife and children, and that little boy with all the troubles he's had?" Banting said. "I mean, Christ almighty." 

As the Wolf's Den was setting up a trust fund to help pay Logan's legal costs, the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters was writing to Ontario Public Safety and Security Minister Bob Runciman, seeking an investigation into the chain of events leading to Logan's arrest. 

A week later, the commissioner of the OPP responded to the federation's request, noting that the OPP professional standards branch will undertake an investigation in accordance to the public complaints procedures. 

According to Logan's lawyer, Edward Burlew, it will be months before his client even has a date for trial. 

"In the meantime, he's been publicly smeared," Burlew said. "He's got a criminal charge hanging over his head. 

"And he's gone through a terrifying and senseless ordeal."