‘Wasted our day’: Footy family slams Dezi Freeman investigators’ raid on home

The mother of two AFL premiership players says she doesn’t know why police investigating Dezi Freeman’s movements raided her rural Victorian home yesterday.

The Buckland home of Bruce and Kay Reid was one of seven across Victoria and NSW raided by Taskforce Summit detectives yesterday.

Mr and Ms Reid are parents to Ben and Sam, both former AFL players.

Speaking on the Locked Out Cafe podcast, Ms Reid said police showed up at the Buckland property, about 10 minutes from Porepunkah, around 7am yesterday.

“Bruce was still in his undies. I was just getting dressed,” she said.

Police spent three hours searching the home and seized computers and mobile phones, Ms Reid said.

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“So, that wasted our whole f---ing day, excuse my swearing, because I was meant to go to yoga, Bruce was meant to go on a motorbike ride, and then they came.”

Ms Reid said she and her husband knew Freeman, but were not in Victoria at the time of the August 26 shootout and have nothing to hide.

“Do you have any clues as to what it [the raid] was about?” she was asked by a podcast co-host.

“Well, probably to do with the Dezi stuff, I don’t know, because we knew him, I don’t really know,” she said.

“You know, cause there’s a whole big community here of people who knew him.

“Good luck. They can look what they like in my phone because they might learn something.”

Ms Reid told the podcast she felt her privacy was invaded during the raid.

“They walked around our home, they took photos, (a policeman) walked around taking live video,” she said.

“I think it’s called bullying tactics, and I told them I don’t trust them [the police].”

Mr and Ms Reid were not arrested and there is no suggestion they assisted Freeman during his time on the run.

Alongside Mr and Ms Reid’s home, Victoria Police raided rural properties in Stanley, near Porepunkah, and Lucyvale, near Walwa, just before 6.30am yesterday.

The 64-year-old Lucyvale man was arrested in Wodonga following the raids.

He was interviewed by police and has been released pending further investigation.

At the same time, police counterparts in NSW executed warrants at four homes in Greenwich Park, Tarlo and Wombeyan Caves, in the Southern Tablelands, and Umina Beach, on the southern coast.

A 47-year-old Wombeyan Caves man was also arrested in Greenwich Park on unrelated outstanding warrants.

Former Victoria Police officer Charlie Bezzina told Today that yesterday’s raids “clearly indicate [police] aren’t giving up on this one”.

“They’re following every crumb of evidence to try and bring people to justice who actually aided and abetted Dezi Freeman,” Bezzina said.

“It just shows the determination of Victoria Police and they won’t give up until every piece of evidence is looked at.

“It will go on and on. It takes time to prove these allegations.

“The police are coming.”

Police have repeatedly stated that anyone who may have assisted Freeman during his time on the run will be held accountable.

“We said from the outset that if alive, Freeman would likely need significant support to leave the area and survive over the following months,” Taskforce Summit Detective Inspector Anthony Gasparini said.

“To that end, we are looking to identify and hold to account those people who provided that support to harbour a wanted fugitive and have potentially committed serious offences themselves.

“We are keen to speak to anyone who may have information about Freeman’s movements in the seven months leading up to his death, including those in the areas where warrants have been conducted today.

“We can also assure anyone who is willing to speak to police or provide information, that this can be done confidentially via Crime Stoppers.”

The warrants were carried out as part of Taskforce Summit, which is the investigation probing Freeman’s movements after he fatally shot two on-duty police in Porepunkah on August 26 last year.

Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart were fatally shot by 56-year-old Freeman during a confrontation at a Rayner Track property.

A third officer was also seriously injured after being shot in the lower body.

Freeman fled the property following the shooting and despite extensive searches, remained on the run for seven months.

On March 30 police surrounded the fugitive on a rural property in Thologolong, where he was fatally shot following failed negotiations.

“It’s important that we provide answers to the families of the police who were shot and killed in Porepunkah, as well as other police members who were impacted by the incident,” Gasparini said.

“We also have to consider the broader Porepunkah community who were affected for many months, as well providing a thorough response as part of the coronial investigation.

“Part of this involves determining Freeman’s movements after the fatal shooting and who may have assisted him before he was ultimately located in Thologolong.

“The investigation does not stop simply because Freeman was located.”