Thieves break into Westbank First Nation office

WEST KELOWNA – Someone has broken into the Westbank First Nation main office and stolen a computer.

Kelowna RCMP spokesman Const. Jesse O’Donaghey says police received a call at 11:21 a.m., Jan. 1, from a passerby who noticed a broken window on the ground floor of the band’s office at 515 Highway 97 South.

Investigators found one or more suspects had used the disabled parking sign from the parking lot to smash through the window.

O'Donaghey says the First Nation reported only one item was stolen — a laptop computer — and no effort was made to get further into the building. 

“Apparently they just reached inside and grabbed this one item,” he says, adding he doesn't know who the computer belongs to. 

Westbank First Nation media representative Mandi Carroll did not respond to a request for an interview.

Investigation into the theft is ongoing and police ask anyone with information about the crime to contact Const. Dan Organ at 250-762-3300.

To contact the reporter for this story, email John McDonald at jmcdonald@infonews.ca or call 250-808-0143. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

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John McDonald

John McDonald

John began life as a journalist through the Other Press, the independent student newspaper for Douglas College in New Westminster. The fluid nature of student journalism meant he was soon running the place, learning on the fly how to publish a newspaper.

It wasn’t until he moved to Kelowna he broke into the mainstream media, working for Okanagan Sunday, then the Kelowna Daily Courier and Okanagan Saturday doing news graphics and page layout. He carried on with the Kelowna Capital News, covering health and education while also working on special projects, including the design and launch of a mass market daily newspaper. After 12 years there, John rejoined the Kelowna Daily Courier as editor of the Westside Weekly, directing news coverage as the Westside became West Kelowna.

But digital media beckoned and John joined Kelowna.com as assistant editor and reporter, riding the start-up as it at first soared then went down in flames. Now John is turning dirt as city hall reporter for iNFOnews.ca where he brings his long experience to bear on the civic issues of the day.

If you have a story you think people should know about, email John at jmcdonald@infonews.ca