Motorcycle thief surrenders after heroin-induced ‘vision’

PENTICTON – Penticton RCMP came across a motorcycle thief, an excessive speeder and several break ins during their patrols last week.

Penticton RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Don Wrigglesworth reports a motorcycle belonging to a Surrey resident was found by police Tuesday, Sept. 29, after the driver crashed it on Marina Way near the art gallery.

The driver of the motorcycle left the scene by the time police arrived. He was later located walking along the shoulder of Highway 97 near the railway bridge, telling police he decided to report himself to authorities following a vision he’d had after taking heroin.

Emergency services members also attended after the man disclosed he took a large quantity of heroin.

He was given a checkup by ambulance personnel before being taken into custody by police and charged with break, enter and theft.

The motorcycle was stolen from a Hope area residence. The driver told police he took a Greyhound bus to Hope the previous Sunday, Sept.27 and while there broke into a house where he found the 2011 Honda motorcycle.

POLICE KEEP BUSY WITH VARIOUS CRIMES

* On Tuesday evening, Sept. 29, thieves cut their way into a fenced compound at Convoy Supply on Rosetown Avenue, making off with 25 rolls of “torch on” roofing material.

* Penticton municipal traffic services were conducting laser speed checks at Eckhardt Avenue and Oakville Street on September 29 when they stopped a 20-year-old man driving a 1996 Chevy Astro van for driving 101 kilometres per hour in a 50 kilometre an hour zone. He was given a seven-day impound on the van, an inspection notice and a ticket for excessive speeding.

* A woman answering the door at 247 Vancouver Avenue was bear sprayed on Thursday evening, Oct. 1. Police responded to a call of a break in in progress to find the occupants of the house unwilling to provide much information to police.

* A break in to a utility trailer took place Friday, Oct. 2, on Penticton Avenue. A lock was cut and several thousand dollars worth of tools taken. The tools can be identified, as they had been sprayed in a reddish pink paint by their owner.

* The drug task force picked up an Alberta man with 10-year-old outstanding warrants for drug trafficking on Friday, Oct. 2. Crown prosecutors are in the process of arranging the man’s return to Alberta.

* A storage unit located at 2360 Government Street was broken into on Sunday, Oct. 4 with damage to storage lockers reported.

* On Monday, Oct. 5 a dump truck travelling on Carmi Road slammed into a utility pole to avoid hitting a deer. The deer survived, but the pole needed replacement.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad at sarstad@infonews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.