Sask. man convicted of impersonating officer while harassing woman

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For the third time this year, a King’s Bench jury has convicted a man from Redvers, Sask. of harassment and impersonation offences committed over four days last summer in Saskatoon.

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Jurors deliberated for around two hours on Thursday before finding Travis Mitchell Patron, 33, guilty of criminal harassment and impersonating a peace officer.

When the trial began Monday, a woman testified that a stranger approached her and her five-year-old daughter outside the James Hotel in downtown Saskatoon around 9 a.m. on July 29, 2023.

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She said the man wanted to ask her a question. When she declined, he asked again, followed her, and demanded she answer him while accusing her of abducting her child, who she told court is African Canadian.

The StarPhoenix is withholding the woman’s name to protect her child’s identity.

After the verdict, Patron told Justice Ronald Mills that the Crown should have to prove the woman is the mother of the “African child.” Crown prosecutor Lana Morelli said she will ask the court to consider “evidence that the offence was motivated by bias, prejudice or hate based on race,” when sentencing is held on Jan. 6.

Until then, he remains in custody.

The woman identified Patron in court as the man shown on surveillance video who “scared her.”

She said Patron identified himself as a police officer. Two hotel employees testified that after the woman sought refuge in the lobby, they heard Patron call himself “Canadian law enforcement,” “federal government,” “federal agent,” and “police officer” — types of peace officers.

When asked to show ID, he flashed his Canadian passport. Staff said he wasn’t wearing any type of uniform.

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They testified that they didn’t believe he was a peace officer. A sergeant with Saskatoon’s hate crimes unit testified that Patron isn’t a city police officer and to her knowledge, isn’t a member of any other Saskatchewan police agency.

The jury didn’t hear that last month, Patron was convicted after a separate jury trial of impersonating a peace officer on Aug. 1, 2023 — four days after the downtown incident.

Those jurors heard Patron approached a woman on the University of Saskatchewan campus, told her he was a protective services officer and offered to escort her across campus.

The woman testified that he wasn’t wearing a uniform and the interaction made her uncomfortable. She said she declined and called campus security after they parted ways.

Patron was arrested later that day on campus. Court heard he wasn’t allowed to be on the premises at the time, due to past behaviour. During cross-examination, Patron said he had a “judicial lien” on the U of S campus.

The woman testified that Patron spoke to her in an authoritative tone. On Monday, the complainant in the downtown incident said Patron’s words were polite but his tone was aggressive.

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A hotel employee told jurors she blocked Patron in the vestibule to separate him from the woman and her child because they looked “very scared.” When a hotel guest intervened, Patron asked the man if he wanted to fight.

Morelli said the woman made it clear that she didn’t want to interact with Patron, but he wouldn’t leave her alone. This constitutes harassment because it caused the woman — who called police after leaving the hotel through a separate exit — a “reasonable fear” for her and her child’s safety, Morelli said during closing arguments.

This is the sixth time Patron has been convicted in a Saskatchewan court since 2022. Each time he’s self-represented in front of a jury, and refuses to stand when jurors enter and leave.

Patron sat silent when asked if he would testify or make closing arguments. While jurors were out of the room, he told Mills that as a “naturalized citizen” of Saskatchewan, he has been appointed a peace officer “by a higher court,” pointing to a “writ of mandamus” that he says lists his “position” as a peace officer.

He said he therefore had the right to stop the woman because he was trying to “keep the peace” and prevent a crime. Morelli noted there’s no evidence the woman was committing a crime.

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Patron said it was “unfair” that he wasn’t allowed to cross-examine her. A defence lawyer was appointed at the Crown’s request to question her on Patron’s behalf.

He didn’t ask the right questions, Patron said before admitting he didn’t give the lawyer any instructions.

In January, Patron was convicted of harassing an interracial couple by following them around Saskatoon’s Midtown Mall and asking the man, “Why are you walking around with our women if you weren’t born in Canada?”

The mall incident happened a day after he harassed the woman downtown.

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