Oliver car bombing suspects arrested

OLIVER – Two brothers believed responsible for a car bombing in Oliver on Aug. 11 have been arrested.

RCMP arrested Stephan, 19, and Eric Daoust, 23, on Thursday on a charge of using explosives under a section of the Criminal Code and after a two-month investigation. The two are in custody with one brother also charged in connection to a can of bear spray used shortly after the bombing in the residence associated to the bombed car. 

Spokesperson Cpl. Dan Moskaluk said the two brothers were targeting a young man who lived in the home where the car was damaged. All three knew each other and are Oliver residents.

Initially the bombing went unreported for a day because residents believed damage was caused by a lightning strike, but eventually the RCMP was called and shrapnel was found embedded in a garage wall during an inspection of the property.

The following day a resident told police they found a piece of metal shrapnel  believed to be connected with nearby damage to a homeowners’ garage and a vehicle parked nearby.

RCMP officers examined the scene and determined a homemade explosive device had been detonated under a vehicle parked in the residential alleyway between Okanagan Street and Earle Crescent in Oliver.

No one was injured in the blast however examination of the vehicle and a nearby homeowner’s garage uncovered damage by the blast and flying shrapnel.

A metal fragment was found in a garage after being blasted through the air fast enough to go through the outside wall, splintering through a 2×4 stud and coming to rest inside the garage.

Stephan Daoust was also recently charged and convicted with assault with a weapon, break and enter and commit indictable offence, possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose in regards to the second associated incident where it was alleged that he broke into the home on Sept. 8 and fired off a can of bear spray.

To contact a reporter for this story, to send photos or videos, email Shannon Quesnel at squesnel@infotelnews.ca, call 250-488-3065, tweet @shannonquesnel1 or @InfoNewsPentict