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Vernon Rcmp

Vernon man says saving a life opened his eyes

VERNON - Ryan Winkler says he was just the guy who happened to drive by on that particular morning; police call him a life saver. Winkler, 36, was on his way to work around 4 a.m. when he saw a truck parked on the side of North Westside Road. The windows were taped up, the...

Construction sign heist hits North Okanagan highway

LUMBY - Police are scratching their heads after numerous traffic signs went missing from a highway construction project in the North Okanagan. RCMP Const. Jocelyn Noseworthy says Controlling Traffic Limited has reported roughly 30 signs stolen from an area on Highway 6 between Lumby and Lavington where paving work is being done. The signs, which...

Hit and run in Vernon sends cyclist to hospital, knocks out power

VERNON – RCMP are on the hunt for a suspect after a man on a bicycle was hit by a vehicle in Vernon early this morning. The cyclist was hit on 43 Street, near 25 Avenue, just after 5 a.m., Oct. 11, according to RCMP Const. Jocelyn Noseworthy. “The vehicle had struck a bicyclist, then...

Police in Vernon investigate another incident involving gunshots

COLDSTREAM - Mounties are investigating a confrontation in Coldstream which allegedly led to gunshots being fired in a front yard. RCMP Const. Jocelyn Noseworthy says police were called out to a barn in the 6400-block of Highway 6 in Coldstream about 1:30 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 3 for a report of multiple shots fired in a...

Vernon business frustrated as robbers walk free

VERNON - A Vernon business owner is fed up after two robberies at their store in the last year, and no arrests. Aman Sudan and her husband bought the local Mac’s Convenience Store franchise on 27 Street about a year ago. Since that time they’ve been robbed twice; the first time in January 2015 when...

Suspects uncooperative after Vernon shooting that had ‘potential for great tragedy’

VERNON - Police say two groups of people with ties to criminal activity were involved in an alleged shooting incident last week in Vernon. One group got away, and the other has been less than cooperative with investigators.  According to Const. Jocelyn Noseworthy, neighbours called 911 last Wednesday, Sept. 23, to report shots fired at...

Man makes off with more than $50,000 in drive-thru ATM theft in Vernon

VERNON - Police are investigating after a man broke into a drive-thru ATM in Vernon and made off with tens of thousands of dollars. RCMP Const. Jocelyn Noseworthy says the Interior Savings Credit Union drive-thru ATM building at 4301 32 St. was broken into just after 10 p.m. Sept. 24. “An unknown male gained entrance...

Mounties investigate shots fired in Vernon

VERNON - Vernon RCMP have launched an investigation after a report of shots being fired at a townhouse complex. RCMP Sgt. Dave Evans says in a media release police were called to a townhouse in the 1600-block of 43 Avenue Wednesday, Sept. 23 around 3:40 a.m. A preliminary investigation led police to believe a confrontation...

Motorcyclist collides with deer on highway by Swan Lake

VERNON - A collision between a motorcycle and a deer slowed down traffic on Highway 97 by Swan Lake Tuesday afternoon. The accident happened around noon when a southbound motorcyclist struck a deer, RCMP Const. Jocelyn Noseworthy says. “The motorcyclist was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries,” Noseworthy says. Traffic was impacted for a short...

Vernon convenience store clerk shaken, but not hurt, after robbery

VERNON - A convenience store employee did the right thing when a man in a ski mask told him to open the cash register early yesterday morning. After being threatened with what looked like bear spray around 4:30 a.m., Sept. 20, the lone clerk at Mac’s Convenience Store on 27 Street did as he was...

Vernon men charged with murder return to court

VERNON - A pair of local men accused in the murder of 42-year-old Jason Hardy were in Vernon Provincial Court again this week. Brandon Joseph Clayton Wellington, 18, and Tal Kalum La Riviere, 28, both face second degree murder charges in relation to Hardy’s death. A 14-year-old Greater Vernon boy, whose name is protected under...

Vernon RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk off duty for good

VERNON - He was a well known face at the police station and on the news, but you won't be seeing Vernon's longtime RCMP spokesperson anymore. Gord Molendyk, who served over as an RCMP officer, and then a media spokesperson, for over 40 years has announced he’s retiring. “My job over the years working with...

Police investigating another suspicious fire in Vernon

VERNON - Police in Vernon are investigating another suspected arson, this time outside the curling club. RCMP Const. Jocelyn Noseworthy says the fire started in a pile of display panels used for hanging merchandise which were stacked at the rear of the building. The Vernon Fire Department managed to put out the blaze before it...

Multiple residents displaced after Vernon pot lab explodes

VERNON - Several residents of a Vernon apartment complex were forced out of their homes when a neighbouring unit exploded and now, nearly a month later, they still can’t return home, according to one displaced tenant. Resident James Halpert, who gave only his first and middle name, has lived in his Regency Gardens apartment on...

Two suspicious fires under investigation in Vernon

VERNON - Police are taking two separate suspicious fires in Vernon very seriously. At this point, investigators can’t say if the pair of fires are connected, but RCMP Const. Jocelyn Noseworthy says these types of cases ‘take a very high priority’ at the detachment, particularly in light of a string of high profile unsolved arsons...

Bogus American money circulating in Okanagan

OKANAGAN – RCMP are warning people to be on the lookout for counterfeit American currency in the Okanagan. Const. Jocelyn Noseworthy says in a media release there have been numerous reports of bogus $20 and $50 bills. She is urging businesses to carefully check the authenticity of any currency before they accept it as payment....

CORRECTION: Elderly woman dies in van in Vernon

VERNON – An 80-year-old Vernon woman died after falling out of her motorized wheelchair while in the back of a modified-van Sunday morning. RCMP were called to the 4300-block of 25 Avenue near a Petro-Canada gas station around 9:40 a.m., Sept. 6, to assist B.C. Ambulance paramedics, according to Const. Jocelyn Noseworthy. Noseworthy says the...

Close call for young Vernon driver who lost control of car

VERNON – A car crash in Vernon Sunday morning could have been much worse. A young driver behind the wheel of a four-door sedan lost control while turning from South Vernon Drive onto Okanagan Avenue around 11:30, Sept. 6, according to Vernon Fire Department Capt. Reinhard Mann. “He went over a four-metre concrete abutment,” he...

Vernon RCMP bust dial-a-dope operation

VERNON – Three people from the lower mainland have been arrested and a large quantity of cocaine and heroin seized in connection with a RCMP investigation into a drug trafficking operation in Vernon. RCMP say a 17-year-old boy was arrested in his vehicle near the corner of 32 Street and 43 Avenue, Sept. 2, and...

Drop your envelope of cash? You need to talk to the Vernon RCMP

VERNON - An envelope of cash has been turned into the Vernon RCMP after someone dropped it at the downtown Safeway almost a month ago. RCMP say the small, light brown envelope was dropped at a grocery store check stand around 12:55 p.m., July 29. An employee at Safeway found the cash and no one...

Man in hospital after rolling ATV near Vernon

VERNON - A 59-year-old man remains in hospital after rolling his ATV in the Lavington area east of Vernon Sunday. The rollover happened around 11:40 a.m., Aug. 30, in the Noble Canyon Road area, according to a media release. The man and his wife, both from Vernon, were going up a hill quite slowly when...