Wife of man accused in Toronto cop death testifies she thought plainclothes officers’ badge was fake

April 2, 2024 Canuck

The wife of a man accused of killing a Toronto police constable is telling his murder trial she thought the people approaching them that night were trying to break into their car to hurt them.

Aaida Shaikh told jurors hearing Umar Zameer’s case that a man and woman initially walked toward their BMW in an underground parking garage shortly after midnight on July 2, 2021, but then rushed over after she signalled that she and her husband didn’t want to talk.

Shaikh said at one point, she caught a glimpse of a silver chain with a “black thing” on it after the woman pulled it out of her shirt, but figured it was a fake badge because it didn’t look like what she had seen in the movies.

She said she briefly considered the possibility that the pair may be police, but quickly dismissed that idea because they weren’t dressed like police officers and were coming at them suspiciously and aggressively, banging on the car in a way that made her think they were trying to break the windows.

Zameer has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of Det. Const. Jeffrey Northrup, who died on July 2, 2021 after he was struck by a car while investigating a stabbing in an underground parking garage at Toronto City Hall.

Court has heard Zameer was not involved in the stabbing.

Two men in coats walking on sidewalk. — Umar Zameer, left, with his defence lawyer Nader Hasan, walking into court in downtown Toronto on April 2, 2024. (Paul Smith/CBC)

The officers were in plain clothes, meaning not in uniform, and went to the garage to look for evidence, court has heard.

Prosecutors allege Zameer chose to make a series of manoeuvres with his vehicle while plainclothes officers were nearby.

The defence, meanwhile, argues Northrup’s death was an accident, and Zameer and his wife, who was eight months pregnant at the time, were scared because they did not know the people approaching them were police. Their two-year-old son was also in the car at the time.

Wife says she was ‘shaking so bad’ trying to call 911

On the stand Tuesday, Shaikh — who at times teared up as she recalled the events of that night — said the whole thing happened so quickly and it felt like the pair banging on the car were “everywhere.”

The man was banging on the roof at one point and she thought he was trying to break through the sunroof, she said.

“In my head their intention is to break the window to hurt us,” she said.

She saw her husband turn to look back out the rear window and put the car in reverse, then the car backed up at an angle, straightened out in the laneway and drove straight for the exit, she said.

They went over what felt like a speed bump and then made two right turns to go toward the garage’s exit, Shaikh said. She testified she asked her husband why he was driving in circles because she thought they would end up back at the place they had just fled.

Zameer, who had previously been largely silent, told her to call police, she said, adding she had to ask him whether to dial 911 or 999. Shaikh reached toward the back seat to get her cellphone from her son, who had previously used it to watch cartoons on YouTube, she said.

She told the court she was “shaking so bad” trying to get out of the YouTube full-screen mode to call first responders. As soon as she succeeded, their car was hit by another one, she recalled.

When she looked out the window, there were two men in casual clothes holding guns — one by her window and another by her husband’s window, she said.

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