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Police
Vernon RCMP issue warning after rash of thefts from vehicles
VERNON - A rash of thefts from vehicles has police asking the public to take precautions. In the last week alone, there were over 20 thefts from vehicles, RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says. “The Vernon North Okanagan Detachment would like to remind people not to leave items in plain view in your vehicles,” Molendyk says....
A fraudulent credit card, $400 worth of meat, and an off-duty cop
VERNON - A pair of people trying to buy hundreds of dollars worth of meat on Valentine’s Day attracted the attention of an off-duty officer. The individuals, a 31-year-old man from Penticton and a 32-year-old woman, were trying to pay for approximately $400 worth of meat from M&M Meats on Saturday, but the man was...
Salmon Arm man struck with metal pipe during bizarre altercation
POLICE APPEALING TO PUBLIC FOR INFORMATION ABOUT SUSPECTS VERNON - Mounties say a Salmon Arm man was attacked through his car window last week while stopped at an intersection. The unusual assault occurred last Wednesday, Feb. 11, around 9:15 p.m. in front of the Green Valley Motel on 25 Avenue. A 26-year-old Salmon Arm man...
Vernon RCMP looking for person of interest after elderly man assaulted
VERNON - Police are appealing to the public for information after an elderly man was allegedly assaulted Thursday afternoon. According to a Vernon RCMP media release, the 83-year-old man was walking along the sidewalk between Coldstream Avenue and 30 Avenue on 34 Street just before 2 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 12. He spoke to a man...
Former Vernon Mountie facing child porn allegations arrested on unrelated charges in Alberta
VERNON - A former Vernon Mountie awaiting trial on child pornography charges was arrested in Alberta last week for impaired driving and possession of stolen property. RCMP media relations officer Cpl. Sharon Franks says Ryan Hampton, 37, was arrested Feb. 2 by police in Strathmore, Alta. After pulling him over, officers searched the vehicle and...
RCMP arrest 13 people in drug trafficking investigation
KELOWNA - A drug trafficking investigation led to 13 arrests Friday morning but only five will face the judge. Kelowna RCMP showed up at what they say is a known problem residence in the 1300 block of Belaire Avenue with a search warrant, according to an RCMP media release. Mounties found cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and...
Lumby RCMP arrest suspected post office box thief
LUMBY - A suspected post office box thief arrested, cash stolen from the Co-op and a stolen 15,000-litre diesel fuel tank are just some of the crimes officers with the Lumby RCMP detachment are working on. On January 11, 2015, Lumby members arrested a woman suspected of breaking into and stealing contents from post office...
Crime is on the rise in Penticton
PENTICTON — Crime in Penticton appears to have gone up significantly in the last year and calls to Penticton RCMP is rising fast. According to a report by Penticton RCMP Supt. Kevin Hewco, calls for service in 2014 was up seven per cent over 2013 to 4,054 but in the last quarter it was 22 per...
New RCMP officers will fill service hole identified in 2012
KELOWNA - Six new RCMP officers will join the ranks of the Kelowna RCMP this year, likely just in time for the summer tourist crush. “Four of the new officers will be front-line general duty policing officers,“ said Supt. Nick Romanchuk, while one officer will be assigned to child abuse investigations and another to civilian...
Kelowna RCMP marijuana raid a ‘form of discouragement’
VERNON - A police raid might seem like an extreme way to send a message, but a Vernon businessman thinks that was the case with a marijuana dispensary that was shut down in Kelowna. Imre Kovacs is a partial owner of The Herbal Health Centre in Vernon, which opened in the summer of 2013, and...
Bomb threat forces evacuation at Salmon Arm school
SALMON ARM - The students of a Salmon Arm middle school were evacuated Tuesday after a prank bomb threat. The threat was at Shuswap Middle School and students were evacuated to the school field and then moved to South Broadview Elementary while police investigated, School District 83 stated in a press release. By 12:38 p.m.,...
Vernon RCMP investigate suspicious fire
VERNON - Police are following up on a suspicious dumpster bin fire. RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says it appears someone set cardboard on fire inside a dumpster around 6:45 p.m. Jan. 17 in the 2300 block of 36 Avenue. Several people noticed the fire, but no one saw who started it. There was no damage...
‘Very potent’ batch of drugs circulate in Vernon with fatal results
VERNON – Six overdoses in the last week—two of them fatal—have Vernon RCMP sounding the…
NEWSMAKERS 2014: String of arsons go down as worst in recent memory
THIS WEEK, INFONEWS.CA IS COUNTING DOWN THE TOP FIVE STORIES OF THE YEAR. TODAY: NUMBER THREE VERNON - Authorities called it the worst fire-setting spree in recent memory, and with the close of 2014, we still don’t know who’s responsible. Over 20 fires were set across the city this past year, beginning in late spring...
UPDATE: Police locate missing Vernon woman
UPDATE: 8:39 a.m. Dec. 31 Vernon RCMP say Brandy Hauser, 30, was located at a residence in Vernon. She had been missing since Dec. 15 and police put out an appeal for tips Dec. 29. VERNON - Police are on the lookout for a Vernon woman not seen since Dec. 15. A concerned family member...
Salmon Arm teen who died in snowmobile accident identified
ENDERBY - The teen who died in a snowmobiling accident near Enderby over the weekend was Brandon Edward Oullette, 16, from Salmon Arm. According to a release from the B.C. Coroners Service, Oullette was snowmobiling with his father and others at Hunters Range, just north east of Enderby, around 10:30 a.m. Dec. 28 when his...
Quiet Christmas reported by city emergency services
PENTICTON - It was a quiet Christmas for Penticton’s police and fire services. “A handful of stolen vehicles were reported over the past few days,” said Penticton RCMP Watch Commander Constable Chad Jackson, “but other than that things were pretty much average over Christmas." Jackson said six Dodge pickups were stolen from residences in the...
Intoxicated Vernon teen caught with drugs, revolver and bullets
VERNON - A Vernon teenager spent Christmas with RCMP after getting caught with a 375 Magnum revolver and various drugs. It was roughly 9:10 p.m. Dec. 25 and the intoxicated 16-year-old was creating quite a scene in the area of Highway 6 and Pottery Road. “The man was walking in and out of traffic on...
Kelowna duo arrested for stealing country club’s gas
SPALLUMCHEEN - A pair of Kelowna men didn’t make it far after trying to steal gas from the Spallumcheen Golf and Country Club. RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says the golf club’s alarm went off around 7:45 p.m. Dec. 27 at the outside gas tanks. Police found one suspect in the immediate area, and a second...
Snowmobile accident claims life of Salmon Arm teen
ENDERBY - A Salmon Arm teen is dead after a snowmobiling accident near Enderby. The 16-year-old Salmon Arm boy was snowmobiling with his father and others Dec. 28 in Hunters Range, but got separated from the group, RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says. He wasn’t separated for long, but when his father tried to contact him...
Six injured in accident; police caution travellers
KAMLOOPS — Police say six people were injured in a single vehicle accident today and suggest poor tires may be a factor. Tk'emlups Rural RCMP Staff Sgt. Doug Aird said the Surrey driver of a 2010 Lexus SUV lost control on Heffley Louis Creek Road Christmas day around 11:40 a.m. The vehicle crossed the centre...
Vernon RCMP get in the spirit of giving
VERNON - Between attending car accidents on winter roads, looking for missing people, and investigating criminal cases, Vernon police officers are finding time to give back to the community this holiday season. Vernon RCMP officer Cpl. Yannick Lescarbeau, along with several hockey coaches and managers, organized a charity hockey tournament in support of the Sick...
Search for firearms leads mounties to Lumby grow-op
LUMBY - Police went looking for illegal firearms at a Lumby residence earlier this month and turned up what they call a dangerous, albeit legally licensed marijuana grow-op instead. Lumby Cpl. Henry Proce said police executed a search warrant Dec. 12 at a residence in the 1700 block of Grandview Avenue looking for firearms. The...
Passenger during Westside Road police shootout says he was in charge
LANGUAGE ADVISORY KELOWNA – Michael Ellis, accused ringleader of a 2012 high speed shootout with police, was just doing what he was told. At least that’s what his only defence witness says. Shawn Wysynski, who is also a lifelong friend of Ellis, told Kelowna Supreme Court Justice Ian Josephson that the only reason his friends were...