Police identify 47 inside Church of God, tickets being issued

Aylmer Police Chief Zvonko Horvat, in a statement Wednesday, Jan. 27, said that 47 persons who were in violation of COVID-19 emergency orders at an indoor and outdoor gathering at Aylmer Church of God on Sunday, Jan. 24, had been identified.

Officers were now in the process of handing out tickets to 29 local participants, and issuing 18 “Part 3” summonses for those from outside the area, as well as the organizers of the event.

On Sunday, participants at a weekly drive-in service at the church got out of their cars and mingled together, and then were invited inside the church by Pastor Henry Hildebrandt.

Chief Horvat had described those as “blatant” breaches of COVID-19 restrictions on such gatherings.

Videos were posted online of the service, including the crowd that went inside the church.

Chief Horvat stated, “Community safety and well being and enforcement of laws is a top priority for Aylmer Police Service during this global pandemic.

“We are asking citizens, businesses and faith based groups to be part of the solution and not a problem by abiding by the current restrictions to protect our community.”

A video was posted to a Herbert Hildebrandt Facebook account on Tuesday night that showed the police arriving at a home to present a summons to a man (not Mr. Hildebrandt). In the video, one of two police officers said to the man, “I have a provincial offence summons for you. It’s in regards to gathering at 751 John Street North on the 24 of January 2021. It’s for violating conditions of the Reopening Ontario Act.”