Crime

Kamloops man gets six months in jail for killing pedestrian
KAMLOOPS – A Kamloops man was handed a jail sentence today for hitting and killing a pedestrian while driving without a licence. Donald Charles Isadore, born 1950, showed little reaction in Kamloops Provincial Court when Judge Stella Frame told him he would be serving jail time for his repeated instances of unlicenced driving. He never...

Council looks at options to end the city’s tagging problem
PENTICTON - An end to tagging in downtown Penticton may be just around the corner, so long as council can agree on a feasible and effective plan to eradicate the vandalism. City Council was presented Monday with several solutions to the tagging problem that received a lot of attention in the spring. Already there are...

Date set for Snelson retrial
KAMLOOPS – After several delays and a successful bail, a date has been set for Neil George Snelson’s re-trial. Snelson, 47, was already tried and convicted of manslaughter in the death of Jennifer Cusworth in 2011. He appealed his conviction and won a second trial set to take place in Kamloops Supreme Court next year....

Swinging wood in the parking lot leads to arrest
KAMLOOPS – Police members have a 37-year-old man in custody after he was arrested for mischief Wednesday morning. The male was reported to be swinging a large piece of wood around in the Seymour 7-Eleven location parking lot. He also reportedly yelled and struck the side of a delivery truck with the wood. When RCMP...

Police continue search for evidence after cyclist shooting
SPENCES BRIDGE – Police are searching for evidence relating to the investigation of a shooting which injured a Burnaby cyclist during the Cache Creek 600 cycling marathon. Craig Premack, 59, was shot on the side of the highway near Spences Bridge when he was biking the overnight marathon around 1 a.m. on June 1. The suspect allegedly...

Heroin withdrawal won’t get plea withdrawal
KAMLOOPS – A Kamloops Supreme Court judge turned down a man’s application to withdraw his guilty pleas after claiming his plea was to get out of jail long enough to obtain heroin and see his dog. Last November, James Arthur Bellerose, born 1976, pleaded guilty to possession charges in front of a supreme court judge....

RCMP bringing out Gator for hot temperatures
KAMLOOPS - Expect to see officers patrolling beaches and streets with the gator when it's too hot for bike patrol. "Our bike officers are probably choosing to ride that rather than bikes (Tuesday afternooon)," Cpl. Cheryl Bush said in a press conference earlier this week. A Gator is a smaller vehicle, similar to a golf...

Story of Lytton manslaughter comes to close 15 years later
KAMLOOPS - A man who beat his friend to death and successfully hid the body in a shallow grave for nearly 13 years before finally being discovered, was sentenced to nearly eight year in jail, in Kamloops Supreme Court Tuesday afternoon. Earlier this year, a jury convicted William Robert Smith, born 1967, of beating Sandy...

Son hit by a car after fight with father
KAMLOOPS – RCMP members are looking for answers after a Kamloops father ran over his son after the two had a disagreement at the Royal Inland Hospital. Police believe the father was trying to bring his son to the hospital when the two began fighting. When the father tried to leave, the son was struck...

Judge rebukes ‘unacceptable conditions’ for teen held in Kamloops cells
KAMLOOPS - A provincial court judge let a 15-year-old Victoria girl out of a potential three-month jail sentence because she was improperly held in Kamloops city cells for five days in “unacceptable conditions,” her lawyer says. The girl was locked up in city cells for five days without seeing a judge, in part because Kamloops...

Victim not speaking to police after being run over by his father
KAMLOOPS – It’s unclear why a father was driving his son to Royal Inland Hospital in the first place, but police are saying the altercation between the two suggests the son had changed his mind once they arrived. On Monday afternoon, the two had a verbal dispute in the emergency drop-off zone before the father...

Thefts and fires in Osoyoos can be easily avoided
OSOYOOS - RCMP say the biggest problems in Osoyoos are ones that can be avoided with a little extra care. There have been numerous thefts from unlocked vehicles and sheds, and unlocked vehicles with keys left inside. Two dirt bikes and a motorcycle were stolen from a locked, detached garage in the Spruce Court area...

Judge ignores sentence recommendation from both sides on assaults, head shavings
KAMLOOPS – Wearing a green sweater in the prisoner's dock, a Kamloops woman met her sentence hearing Tuesday afternoon by crying long, hard silent sobs into a tissue. Before Justice Ian Meiklem arrived to decide her fate, she and her mother told one another: “I love you.” Meiklem handed Mary Lynn Dyson, 30, a three-year...

Kelowna gets new domestic violence unit
KELOWNA – Victims of domestic abuse have a new resource in Kelowna. The creation of a new Domestic Violence Unit, a first for the Okanagan, was announced by Attorney General and Minister of Justice Suzanne Anton. “The team will provide an urgent, coordinated response to protect families in this community who are at risk or...

Bride devastated by wedding day thief
KELOWNA – Thieves ruined a Kelowna bride’s special day by robbing her guests and stealing cards with cash inside meant for the couple’s honeymoon. Natasha and Aaron Young were tying the knot on July 5 at the Benvoulin Heritage Church when the crooks struck. While the bride and groom were cutting the cake, guests had...