Man who fired shots at cops, took hostage during police chase pleads guilty
A man who shot at Hamilton police, took a hostage at gunpoint and then broke into a home to evade capture has pleaded guilty to multiple charges in Superior Court.
No one was shot during the terrifying ordeal that began with a suspicious person call on Barton Street East on Jan. 31, 2020. Jamie Dryden escaped that night, but was arrested in Brantford after a two-week manhunt involving multiple police agencies.
Dryden pleaded guilty Tuesday to six charges, including discharging a firearm at Hamilton police Const. Stephen Hume, using a restricted firearm to take a hostage, break and enter, and possession of a firearm while prohibited. His two other convictions were firearm offences related to his Feb. 15, 2020 arrest.
Dressed in black, his head shaved and with a full, dark-coloured beard, Dryden answered guilty" to each charge from the prisoner's box. His defence attorney Jaime Stephenson stood nearby.
According to an agreed statement of facts read by assistant Crown attorney Warren Milko, police were called around 10 p.m. about a man who walked up the fire escape onto the roof of 1085 Barton St. E. and then back down.
When police constables Hume and Trevor Viersen arrived, they saw the suspect dressed in black, wearing a long, blond wig. Dryden began walking away quickly, then started running when the officers tried to speak with him.
The officers chased him through an alley calling for him to stop. Once Dryden reached Campbell Avenue, he pulled out a black handgun and fired, Milko said. The officers took cover and did not return fire because of public safety.
Dryden continued running onto Ottawa Street North and into a municipal parking lot at Edinburgh Avenue, where Destiny Phillips was walking to her vehicle after work, Milko told the court. Dryden grabbed Phillips and pointed his gun at the back of her head.
Dryden yell get back" at the officers. Phillips dropped to the ground of out Dryden's grasp and Dryden fled again. He fired a single shot at the officers from behind a parked car before continuing to run and firing another shot at the officers.
The officers lost sight of him on Britannia Avenue. Dryden made his way to Edgemont Avenue North where he went inside an enclosed porch at the back of a home and hid. Around 11:20 p.m., the 66-year-old homeowner, Susan Donald, returned home with her 90-year-old mother, Milko said. She noticed some items out of place and left her mother in the car to look.
Dryden came out and, as he struggled to get past her, Donald was hit in the face and pushed off the porch, suffering multiple cuts and bruises, two broken toes and significant pain to her chest from hitting the ground.
Dryden fled before police arrived, but left behind a shoe. Police found a half-full bottle of beer on the porch, vomit in a recycling bin and a vape pen. A 9 mm Glock 19 semi-automatic pistol, loaded with 12 rounds, was stashed in a plant pot. DNA from the evidence, including the gun, was a match for Dryden whose DNA was already registered in the nation DNA databank. He has an extensive criminal record.
The police investigation led officers on Feb. 14 to a residence on Trillium Way in Brantford. Dryden initially refused to come out, but eventually emerged to be arrested after nearly 12 hours. On the front stairs, police found an unloaded .45 ACP Norinco M1911 pistol, next to a magazine loaded with seven rounds and loose rounds, Milko said. In an upstairs bedroom police found more assorted ammunition.
Dryden will return to court at a later date for sentencing submissions.
Nicole O'Reilly is a crime and justice reporter at The Spectator. noreilly@thespec.com