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Rcmp
Fruit picker who fell to his death identified
SOUTH OKANAGAN - A fruit picker who died following an accident last week has been identified as Gabriel Gendreau-Martineau. Gendreau-Martineau, 23, of St. Agathe, QC, spent his summer working on a farm in Osoyoos. While he had concluded his work there, he tented on the property until he planned to leave on Sept. 26. On...
Dogs get between cougars and people during two Osoyoos encounters
OSOYOOS - Two people encountering cougars in Osoyoos were fortunate to be with their dogs when the chance meetings occurred. A cougar was spotted near Magnolia Place (Destiny Beach) on Monday, Sept. 29 around 8:30 p.m. The cougar was chased off by a dog who came back injured but with blood on his mouth, according...
Two men waiting for court date after police seize drugs that look like candies
KELOWNA - Lab analysis of llegal drugs peddled in Kelowna as ecstacy this past summer shows they were actually methamphetamine, RCMP say. Two men from Quebec ages 21 and 20 are facing possible charges of possession for the purpose of trafficking following their arrest Aug. 7, according to a media release. Police were called to...
Some intersections really are accident traps
KELOWNA - Kelowna and Lake Country RCMP have pointed out a number of high-risk collision intersections in an effort to reduce the number of crashes at these locations. "You could pick out almost any intersection in the Central Okanagan and find that it has been the scene of at least one motor vehicle collision," RCMP...
Foul play ruled out in death of Vernon teen
VERNON - Foul play has been ruled out in the death of a former Vernon teen who died at a work residence in Kindersley, Saskatchewan. Police initially called 19-year-old Dylan Cordell Hanna’s death suspicious, but an autopsy conducted Sept. 16 has since dispelled any notions foul play was involved. Hanna was found Sept. 14 at...
Early morning car crash under investigation
VERNON - Police are investigating a series of events ending with a car crash and no sign of the occupants. It all started shortly after midnight Sept. 28 when the Vernon RCMP received a report of a car speeding through the intersection of 32 Avenue and 32 Street. “The silver car with two occupants was...
Lumby officer crashes police vehicle
CHERRYVILLE - A Lumby RCMP officer is probably feeling lucky after he survived driving his squad vehicle off the road, rolling it and hitting a tree Sunday night. The officer was on his way to investigate a report of a possible impaired driver when the accident happened at about 10:30 p.m Sept. 28. He was...
Police need help to find missing high-risk teenaged girl
KELOWNA – The search is on for a Kelowna teenager who has been missing all summer. RCMP say Raven Graham, 17, is known to live a high-risk, transient lifestyle and has a history of going missing. Police received a report on Aug. 26 that Graham had been missing since July. She was sighted on Sept....
Neighbour posts videos of alleged thief breaking into vehicles
KAMLOOPS - A resident of Juniper Ridge is doing his own police work by taking advantage of some surveillance video and social media. The security cameras on Mark Lane’s home have caught images of a man stealing from his neighbour’s vehicles along Similkameen Place. Lane has posted the videos to his Facebook page and YouTube...
Penticton police officer at risk of being charged with causing injury
PENTICTON - The fate of a Penticton RCMP officer is in the hands of Crown Counsel after a complaint was filed by a woman who allegedly sustained injuries while in police custody. Chief Civilian Director Richard Rosenthal of the Independent Investigations Office filed the report after a complaint was made by the woman involved in...
Still no sign of man missing in the woods
KELOWNA – RCMP are still looking for a man who has been missing for almost ten months. Terrance Michael Landon, 57, was last seen on December 26, 2013 at a remote campsite east of Kelowna near James Lake. RCMP say Landon had been living in a tent trailer on Crown land for several months and...
Tearful testimony from cops who thought they were going to die
KELOWNA – Two RCMP constables, testifying in the Kelowna Supreme Court trial of accused Westside Road shooter Michael Ellis Thursday afternoon, relived a day they will never forget. Const. Tara Schneider was working general duty in Vernon the afternoon of July 31, 2012 when a call that police were in pursuit of a suspect who...
JAIL SEX TRIAL: Judge will decide if RCMP officer’s actions were criminal
KAMLOOPS – It is up to a Kamloops Supreme Court Justice to determine if a crime was committed in the early morning hours of August 18, 2010 now that submissions from both lawyers have concluded in the trial of an RCMP watch commander. Kenneth Peter Rick Brown was charged with breach of trust after he,...
A Penticton proposal getting support from unexpected places
PENTICTON - Penticton council has an unexpected supporter for its push to put oversight for large-scale events under the provincial umbrella—the Boonstock Music and Arts festival. All but one member of Penticton's councillors and mayor used the Union of B.C. Municipalities Convention this week to lobby provincial government ministers hard to take on the regulatory...
Prolific fraudster at it again
KELOWNA - A man known as a serial scammer is believed to be behind the latest string of reports in Kelowna. Police investigators say it appears a 40-year-old Kelowna man with a long list of convictions appears to be at it again, often using the story of a broken down truck or claiming he's a...
JAIL SEX TRIAL: ‘It was a very tense and uncomfortable environment:’ guard
KAMLOOPS – A former jail guard told a Kamloops Supreme Courtroom this morning his workplace was like a zoo and there was nothing he could do about separating two female prisoners having sex because there were no empty cells available. David Tompkins was one of the RCMP city cell guards working the early morning hours...
Pile of cash found; RCMP looking for owner
ARMSTRONG – RCMP are looking for the owner of a large sum of cash dropped in the Armstrong Liquor Store Saturday morning. Someone spotted the pile of money and turned it over to the clerk, who called the police. The investigators had a look at the surveillance camera footage and discovered the owner of the...
Prank call sparks armed RCMP response
KAMLOOPS – RCMP got a phone call from a man Friday night claiming he shot someone in a condo in the Upper Sahali neighbourhood and would shoot any officer who responded. At around 7:20 p.m., RCMP say they responded “tactically” and cordoned off the McKinley Terraces condo complex. Police also evacuated the surrounding units at...
Kamloops Mounties nab suspect in two armed robberies
KAMLOOPS – A 43-year-old man is cooling his heels in police cells after he was arrested in connection with a pair of armed robberies in Kamloops on Friday afternoon. At about 1:45 p.m., the clerk at the Tranquille Market on Tranquille Road and 12 Street was held up by a man with a gun, according...
JAIL SEX TRIAL: The one-and-a-half minute party
KAMLOOPS – One of the guards who worked during an August 2010 incident in city cells told a Kamloops Supreme courtroom Friday morning he was frustrated when he did not receive direction on how to split up two female prisoners having sex. Kevin Brumm was a relatively new guard at the Kamloops RCMP city cells,...
Man killed in motorcycle crash identified
PENTICTON - The man killed in a motorcycle accident in Penticton over the weekend has been identified. PENTICTON - Kevin Michael Bradley Vezina, a 41-year-old man from Penticton, collided with a pickup truck at the intersection of Main Street and Industrial Avenue on Saturday afternoon. He was thrown from his bike and suffered injuries which...
IN PHOTOS: Award ceremony for local RCMP members
KAMLOOPS - It's not everyday RCMP members don the red serge, but Tuesday's award and recognition ceremony was a special occasion for 20 officers, auxiliary members and civilians. Staff Sgt. Maj. Ross van den Brink delivered long-service awards to members who have served for 20, 25 and 35 years. Other awards included long-service peace officer...
Motorcycle crash kills West Kelowna man
PENTICTON - A West Kelowna man was killed when he crashed his motorcycle into another vehicle this past weekend. On Saturday, Sept. 13, a 42-year-old motorcyclist accelerated straight through a yellow light at the same time an oncoming car was making a left-hand turn at the intersection of Main Street and Industrial Avenue. The motorcyclist...
Two men charged following stolen car investigation
VERNON - An investigation into stolen cars and property has led Vernon RCMP to the arrest of two men. The men were in possession of stolen property, arrested and charged this past weekend following an investigation according to an RCMP press release. Tim Ross, 20, was charged with four counts of theft over $5,000 and...