Jarrod Bacon and co-accused John Chasse will not face charges in connection with a shooting that took place in Fort Nelson earlier this year.
The notorious former gangster and John Chasse had been charged with one count of aggravated assault.
"The decision to stay the charges in this case against both Mr. Bacon and Mr. Chasse was made after further information was received by the prosecutor with conduct of the file," British Columbia Prosecution Service communications counsel Damienne Darby told the Vancouver Sun. "After reviewing this information and the rest of the materials provided by the investigative agency, the prosecutor concluded the charge approval standard was no longer met."
Darby noted that because the decision involved the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in an individual's file, the BCPS could not disclose the reasoning.
The incident in question took place on January 29 on the 5000 block of 51st Avenue West in Fort Nelson. The victim suffered wounds, but survived and is recovering. Bacon and Chasse were arrested three days later.
Bacon has a long criminal history, and in 2012 he was sentenced to 12 years in prison for conspiracy to traffic 100kg of cocaine. The BC Court of Appeals managed to increase that to 15 years, however he was eventually granted statutory release. In 2021, he violated the terms of that agreement, and was moved to another region of the province.
Bacon and his brothers, Jamie and Jonathan, were members of the Red Scorpion gang, a criminal organization that wreaked havoc on the Lower Mainland. Jonathan was killed in 2011, and Jamie is serving a prison sentence for conspiracy to commit murder.