A West Kelowna man, who the province tried to permanently ban from a welfare office after he repeatedly threatened staff, has once again been charged for uttering threats, this time at a cashier in a gas station.

Dylan Anthony Choquette was supposed to be in court Jan. 14, having been charged with threatening the female cashier with death or bodily harm at the Petro-Canada gas station in West Kelowna on Nov. 12, 2024.

However, Choquette failed to show up to court and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

The gas station is a mere 100 metres away from the welfare office where Choquette verbally abused staff.

Choquette, of no fixed address, has a lengthy criminal record for theft, mischief and uttering threats.

His behaviour at the West Kelowna office of the Ministry of Social Development made headlines in early 2023 when the province took the unusual step of getting a restraining order against him after he repeatedly threatened Ministry staff.

In November 2024, the province tried to make the ban permanent.

t argued in court that the 34-year-old had sworn at staff and once told them he would shoot them.

On another occasion, he entered the building with a large wooden shelf and smashed it against the plexiglass on the counter. When staff said they would call the police he replied, “go ahead call, they won’t show up or do anything.”

The Ministry said it had documented 20 incidents involving Choquette in 2022 and six in 2023 before the temporary injunction was put in place.

However, while the province wanted the ban made permanent, last November BC Supreme Court Justice Steven Wilson refused to grant the injunction.

The Justice said the province had relied on the Ministry’s incident report as evidence and not the individual staff members themselves. He said the records were hearsay.

It’s not known what took place at the Petro-Can, but the incident took place 10 days before the Justice refused to ban Choquette from the welfare office half a block away.

The recent charge has not been proven in court.