London street preachers wanted by police with nearly a year-old arrest warrant: court papers – London | The Canadian News

London’s so-called street preachers, known to residents for their years of headlining antics on city street corners, have been wanted by London police for nearly a year after they failed to show up at the court, 980 CFPL learned.

Matthew Carapella, 35, and Steven Ravbar, 53, were scheduled to appear in court on November 10, 2020 in connection with a mischief charge that had been jointly filed against them the previous year, however they did not attend. , according to court documents. .

As a result, an arrest warrant was issued for his arrest, which remains active as of this week. The documents do not list any more court dates for Carapella or Ravbar after November 10.

The couple were criminally charged after police alleged they entered Elmwood Presbyterian Church on the morning of April 7, 2019 and began yelling at parishioners during a church service.

The church’s reverend, Andrew Fullerton, told 980 CFPL at the time that two men entered the church, sat near the back, and began shouting after the sermon.

“They said derogatory things to me about me and me, that I was an imposter, a fraud and an actor. The other thing they said was some disparaging things about women, ”Fullerton said.

Carapella and Ravbar are well known to Londoners for expressing their religious beliefs on street corners, including in central London, often allegedly targeting women for their hairstyle and clothing.

Local media have previously reported that the couple’s preaching appears to be modeled after the recorded sermons of the late William Branham, an ultra-conservative American doomsday evangelist who died in 1965.

According to a CBC London Report 2017, Branham led a controversial post-WWII Pentecostal movement called Latter Rain. Carapella told the outlet in an interview that Ravbar introduced him to Branham’s sermons.

Branham often rebuked women in his sermons, frequently describing them as “instruments of Satan” and likening them to “dogs” and “pigs,” reported CBC.

London police confirmed on Tuesday that Carapella and Ravbar had active arrest warrants. Court documents show that the arrest warrant was delivered to the police on November 16, 2020. The police have not issued any public notice that either of them are the subject of arrest warrants.

“Normally, we do not publish a press release for failing to attend court orders, as the media office is not necessarily notified,” said police spokesman Const. Scott Mandich said in an email Tuesday.

“It is also impractical to publish a press release … for every person who has outstanding warrants in the City of London.”

The criminal matter was due to go to trial at the end of May 2020, with Carapella and Ravbar representing themselves, however the date was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the suspension of all criminal and investigative trials in the province.

The couple were also willing to argue during a pre-trial charter request hearing in April 2020 that mischief counts. violated your charter rights, according to London Free Press. However, the hearing did not go as planned due to COVID-19.

Court documents suggest that the last time Carapella and Ravbar attended court was on February 18, 2020, just before the pandemic. However, it should be noted that during the pandemic, from March 16, 2020 to November 27, 2020, Ontario courts were ordered to automatically defer criminal case management matters to a later date in the absence of the defendant. . However, it is unclear why the couple’s absence on November 10 prompted a court order rather than a postponement.

Carapella is also the subject of a separate court order that was issued in February 2021 after he failed to appear in court on a mischief charge that was filed in April 2020, according to court documents.

That charge stems from an incident in which a man allegedly yelled at two women while practicing yoga in the driveway of his Raymond Avenue home, according to police, who noted at the time that the man continued to yell at the women even after of the arrival of the officers.

Carapella and Ravbar are neighbors of the two women, according to court documents.

Documents suggest that Carapella did not appear in court on December 14, 2020, resulting in the issuance of a subpoena. Carapella then failed to show up for his next court date on February 1, prompting the arrest warrant, which remains active.

The two also face criminal charges in connection with an incident near the Queen’s University campus in Kingston in January 2020, in which they were jointly charged with one count each of “causing a disturbance by shouting insulting language” and “harassment with threatening conduct towards another person, ”according to court documents.

According to report published at that time Per Queen’s Journal, the newspaper run by university students, Carapella and Ravbar allegedly stood on a corner near the school and discredited the women who passed them, “calling them ‘whores’ and telling them to wear’ long and baggy ‘”. skirts, ‘”the report said.

An arrest warrant without endorsement is currently active for Carapella and Ravbar in connection with the Kingston affair, after the couple failed to appear in court on November 2, 2020, court documents show. Both were representing themselves, and in a court appearance before the pandemic they said they intended to plead not guilty to the charges. according to the Queen’s Journal.

Carapella and Ravbar too got in trouble with the law in the southern US in 2018, according to a February 2018 article by CBC London, which reported they had been charged with “staying after banned” after being arrested in Shreveport, Louisiana. Few details are known, but Ravbar told CBC that he paid a fine and they let us go.

Around the same time, local South Carolina media reported in January 2018 that Carapella and Ravbar had been the subject of a warning from the Oconee County Sheriff after they allegedly entered a church near Townville, South Carolina, in three times and services were interrupted.

“A patrol request has been filed for this church and they have reportedly been causing some problems in some churches in Georgia as well,” the sheriff’s office notice read, according to a WYFF article, a local NBC affiliate in Greenville, South Carolina. No further information was provided on the alleged incidents in Georgia.

Other churches in the area were told to be aware of Carapella and Ravbar, and advised to contact local police if they attended church and caused trouble, the notice said.

Both also remain the subject of unresolved charges under the city’s nuisance statute that were established between February 5, 2019 and April 6, 2019.

Carapella and Ravbar each face 18 counts of, “in a public place, unnecessarily interfering with another person’s use and enjoyment of the public place by using abusive or insulting language,” according to the city.

The municipal charges came after the city received dozens of complaints about the couple from members of the public for allegedly using abusive language with passersby, mostly women, and often invoking religious language.

The city had amended its nuisance statute the previous year, making it illegal to use abusive or insulting language when it prevents people from enjoying public spaces.

In an email Tuesday, Orest Katolyk, the city’s top municipal law enforcement officer, said the 2019 file remained active and before a provincial crime court.

“Since the charge of mischief issued by (London Police) in April 2020, there have been no further charges issued under the City’s Public Nuisance Statute by Municipal Law Enforcement Officers,” he said, refusing to comment more.

The municipal charges were expected to go to trial in March 2020, but did not proceed due to the pandemic. The trial has not yet been rescheduled. They both had previously pleaded not guilty and they were representing themselves, according to a CTV London report.

An official with the city clerk’s office said Wednesday that Carapella and Ravbar were scheduled to appear in a provincial crime court for the last time on September 27, 2021, but the matter was postponed until December 6 because no one appeared. .

980 CFPL tried to contact Carapella and Ravbar for comment, but was unsuccessful.

Court documents list Carapella and Ravbar as residents at the same Raymond Street address, however it is unclear if they still live there or even if they are in London.

There was no response when a 980 CFPL reporter knocked on the front door of the address Wednesday afternoon. City records list the house as the property of one Rudolph Ravbar.

Two messages left with a London phone number that allegedly belonged to Steven Ravbar, listed in an online phone directory, were not returned at the time of publication.

According to the London Free Press, Ravbar was at one time a primary school teacher. A listing for Ravbar in the Ontario College of Teachers online database shows him as retired in 2012.

A former Ravbar’s alumnus, Carapella is the son of Joe Carapella, Chairman of the Tricar Group, a prominent London developer. 980 CFPL reached out to Carapella’s father for comment or information on the couple’s whereabouts, but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

980 CFPL also reached out to Adam Carapella, Tricar’s vice president, who declined to comment.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Carapella and Ravbar is asked to report to the London police.

–With files from Andrew Graham, Liny Lamberink and Jacquelyn LeBel.