Crime
Ex-city councillor, sex offender sentencing delayed
PENTICTON — A sentencing date for an ex-city councillor who pleaded guilty to sexual assault charges, will be set on Monday. Gary A. Leaman, who served on Penticton City Council for three years and ran for mayor in 2008, will face sentencing for the two counts of sexual assault he plead guilty to in January....
Psychologist: Ex-city councillor has narcissistic personality disorder
PENTICTON - Former city councillor Gary A. Leaman, who pleaded guilty of sexual assault, tested high on a court-ordered psychiatric exam for narcissistic personality disorder. Nalini Joneja, a clinical psychologist with Forensic Psychiatric Services was questioned by Crown prosecutor Catherine Crockett and defence counsel Michael Welsh on her report of the psychiatric exam done in...
Former city councillor sentenced to prison for sexual assault
PENTICTON - Former city councillor Gary A. Leaman will spend the next few years in jail—his punishment for sexually assaulting two young victims. Leaman, 59, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault and was sentenced to a total of 21 months in provincial prison by Judge Gale Sinclair today at the Penticton Courthouse. Sinclair...
A famous Vernon mural was vandalized, then this happened
"IT WAS AN INCREDIBLE ACT OF YOUTH EMPOWERMENT TO DISCOVER HER CLEANING THE MURAL" VERNON - Without being asked or paid, a young artist took it upon herself to undo the damage a vandal did to one of Vernon’s heritage murals. Marie-Anna Michaud, 19, saw a post by muralist Michelle Loughery on Facebook Monday morning....
UPDATE: Matthew Foerster guilty for earlier attacks against women
KELOWNA - Seven years before Matthew Foerster murdered Armstrong teen Taylor Van Diest, he snuck into a young Cherryville woman’s home, knocked her head against a wall and told her to come with him. Details about the 2004 assault, and a subsequent attack involving a sex-trade worker in 2005, were revealed during a sentence hearing...
UPDATE: Masked thieves hit storage lockers in Sun Rivers
HAVE POLICE RECOVERED YOUR STUFF? KAMLOOPS — Police are looking for three people wearing masks who broke into several storage units in Sun Rivers early this morning. Police say the thieves got into 16 storage lockers in the storage rooms for three apartments on Talasa Way. They used bolt cutters to open the lockers but...
The surprising place Vernon cops discovered a high number of traffic violations
VERNON - Police didn’t have to go far to catch and ticket a dozen drivers for not wearing seat belts. RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says officers noticed numerous driving infractions right in front of the police station on 30 Street recently and decided to do something about it. “So they did a little road check...
Police seek information in bizarre Kelowna handgun incident
KELOWNA - Police are looking for a man who allegedly pointed a gun at a pair of Okanagan residents and then offered to help them change a tire. The strange incident happened Nov. 4 around 12:30 a.m. at the Willow Park Church parking lot at 439 Highway 33, states a release from the Kelowna RCMP....
Vernon judge comes down hard on missionary’s ‘corrective’ child beatings
“WHEN CONDUCT BASED ON RELIGIOUS BELIEFS IS CONTRARY WITH THE CRIMINAL CODE OF CANADA, THE CRIMINAL CODE MUST PREVAIL”: JUDGE VERNON - He said he punished his kids so they would never find themselves tangled up in the criminal justice system, like he is now. The 42-year-old, who met his wife while doing missionary work...
Attempted break-and-enter gives Enderby woman a scare
ENDERBY - There were some frightening moments for an Enderby woman last week. RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says the woman was sleeping in her Larson Avenue home in Enderby around 11 p.m. Dec. 12 when her dog started barking. The motion light went on in the yard, and when she looked out the window, she...
Convicted killer due for sentencing for ramming police car
"IT DOES NOT APPEAR THAT PERIODS OF INCARCERATION HAVE AFFECTED HIM." KELOWNA – A Kelowna man with an extensive criminal history is being sentenced for using a stolen truck to ram a police car as he tried to evade arrest only one year after being released from prison for a 2005 manslaughter conviction. "It was only...
Salmon Arm arsonist sentenced to jail time
SALMON ARM - Justice has been served in a devastating arson case out of Salmon Arm. Adam Michael Schultz, 39, torched Pedro’s Fruit Stand in September 2013, burning the popular family business to the ground. He was sentenced in Salmon Arm Provincial Court Monday. At the time he was arrested, police said he was also...
Police watchdog finds no connection between Vernon RCMP officer and injured man
VERNON – The province’s police watchdog says a Vernon RCMP officer had nothing to do with a cyclist getting hurt over the summer. The Independent Investigations Office released its findings into the incident this week, saying there was no relationship between the injury and the actions of the officer. A Vernon RCMP officer attempted to...
West Kelowna hit and run foiled
WEST KELOWNA - A car involved in a three vehicle crash Monday morning in West Kelowna was allegedly fleeing from police. Officers were investigating a suspected stolen vehicle when the driver, who did not have insurance left the scene and crashed into three other vehicles according to an RCMP media release. The incident happened at...
Police have identified suspect with potential links to 13 break and enters
KAMLOOPS – Mounties identified one suspect and are searching for a second involved in 13 break-ins of Aberdeen and Sahali area businesses in November. The businesses were broken into the night of Nov. 13 and early morning hours of Nov. 14. Cheryl Bush, a spokesperson for the Kamloops RCMP says the two individuals entered the...