B.C. “prolific offender” back in custody after allegedly fleeing from police

PENTICTON, B.C. – RCMP say a prolific offender in Penticton is back in custody and facing multiple drug and firearms charges after attempting to flee from the police.

Mounties spokesman Cpl. Dan Moskaluk says officers have been investigating Andrew Hardenstine ever since his recent release, and police moved in to arrest him last Wednesday after seeing him enter and leave an apartment building with a backpack that had what looked like a long gun draped in cloth sticking out of it.

Moskaluk says Hardenstine tried to flee on a stolen motorcycle after spotting the police outside the apartment building, but he ended up crashing into an unmarked police car and was knocked down.

The officer in the police car then got out and tried to grab Hardenstine, but he broke free and ran straight into the grasp of other nearby officers who Moskaluk says suffered minor injuries as a result of Hardenstine’s alleged attempt to resist arrest.

A semi automatic assault rifle, a handgun, and a sack full of ammunition and drugs were seized from Hardenstine’s backpack.

Moskaluk says a 40-year-old Penticton woman was also arrested following a search of the apartment, and she is facing a possible possession charge after police seized drug trafficking paraphernalia and a small amount of drugs from the place.