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Crime

Kelowna Mounties make arrests, take drugs and guns

KELOWNA - Police hauled small amounts of several different drugs, along with guns and ammunition, from a bust on a rented suite in the 200 block of McCurdy Road last week, police said today. Spokesperson Cpl. Joe Duncan said a 'short-term investigation' led to a search warrant where they found: Investigators executed the warrant, located...

Man accused in Armstrong woman’s death ordered to stand trial

VERNON - The man accused of killing an Armstrong mother of two has been ordered to stand trial. Logan Scott, 31, of Salmon Arm was charged with manslaughter and theft under $5,000 in August 2014, nine months after Jillian McKinty, 27, was found dead in her Armstrong home. Following a preliminary inquiry this week in...

Convicted Vernon drug smuggler still trying to smuggle drugs in prison: Warden

VERNON - A Vernon man currently serving time for running a massive drug trafficking operation has been denied a request to be moved into minimum security. Brock Palfrey was sentenced to almost 17 years in prison for trafficking cocaine and ecstasy. He and two co-conspirators, also from the Vernon area, were arrested with $200 million...

The 14-year-old Vernon boy charged with murder has been released

VERNON - A 14-year-old Greater Vernon boy charged with murder is out of jail — at least for the time being. The teen, whose identity is protected under the Youth Act, was released on bail Sept. 22. Details such as what the bail is set at, and the conditions of his release, were not made...

Vernon arsonist sent to jail for lighting townhouse on fire while roommate slept

VERNON - A Vernon man who flicked a cigarette onto a bedroom mattress while his roommate was asleep in another room admitted the act was ‘effing stupid.’ Brandon Joshua Milligan Boyce, 20, turned himself in the same day of the townhouse fire on July 17, 2014. The blaze resulted in over $137,000 in damages to...

Guilty verdict for dangerous driver who hit Vernon firefighter with truck

VERNON - A man has been found guilty of hitting a North Okanagan firefighter with his truck. Ian Douglas Burns, 28, was convicted of dangerous driving causing bodily harm in connection with the June 26, 2013 incident this week in Vernon Provincial Court. The victim, Stephan Hidasi, a firefighter with the BX/Swan Lake Fire Department,...

Vernon RCMP looking for individual who was in Polson Park night of alleged murder

VERNON - Investigators believe there was someone else in Polson Park the night of an alleged murder, and they’re hoping that person will come forward. Police issued a statement earlier this week asking for additional witnesses in the Jason Hardy murder investigation, but RCMP Const. Jocelyn Noseworthy says it appears investigators are looking for one person in...

Charges pending against erratic Kelowna driver who side-swiped cars on route to Vernon

‘HE TOLD POLICE HE DIDN’T UNDERSTAND WHY HE WAS BEING STOPPED’ VERNON - Charges of dangerous driving and possession of a controlled substance are being recommended against a Kelowna man who went on a wild drive from Lake Country to Vernon last week. The 38-year-old was arrested in downtown Vernon after making his way from...

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...

UPDATE: Former Vernon RCMP officer guilty, sentenced for possessing child pornography

"HE HAS... BEEN SUBJECTED TO PUNISHMENT WELL BEYOND THAT... (OF) A USUAL INMATE" KELOWNA - Former Vernon Mountie Ryan Hampton has been found guilty of possessing and downloading child pornography as well as several counts of breaching court orders. Hampton, 37, pleaded not guilty to possessing child pornography, accessing child pornography and six counts of breaching...

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 judge ruffles feathers by refusing to sentence alleged fraudster

"I CAN’T BE THROWING PEOPLE IN JAIL WHO SAY ‘I DIDN’T DO IT’" VERNON - A bit of courthouse drama unfolded at the Vernon Law Courts Monday when a judge refused to sentence an accused fraudster on charges she wouldn’t admit to committing. Desiree Dorothy Pelletier is charged with forgery, theft of $5,000 or under...

New murder charge laid in connection with Vernon death

VERNON - Police have arrested a third person for murder in connection with the death of 42-year-old Jason Hardy, whose body was found in Polson Park Aug. 26. Tal Kalum La Riviere, 28, from Greater Vernon, was arrested in Kamloops Sept. 9 and charged with one count of second degree murder. He was scheduled to...

Vernon teen accused of murder to have no contact with three people

VERNON - A local teen charged with murder has been ordered not to have any contact with his co-accused — a 14-year-old boy — and two other young men from Vernon. Brandon Joseph Clayton Wellington, 18, appeared in Vernon Provincial Court today, Sept. 9 on one count of second degree murder in the death of...

Plan in place to support people evicted from Vernon motel

VERNON - Local organizations have a plan in place to support people evicted from the Green Valley Motel. Tenants must be out of the building by the end of the day today, Aug. 31, and Annette Sharkey from the Social Planning Council for the North Okanagan says local organizations, primarily the John Howard Society, are...

SNELSON TRIAL: Lawyers present final arguments in manslaughter trial

KAMLOOPS - Motive, opportunity and his own lies all point to Neil George Snelson as the person who strangled and beat 19-year-old Jennifer Cusworth to death over 20 years ago in Kelowna, court heard from the Crown during final arguments today, June 15. Cusworth, an Okanagan Community College student was found in a ditch on...

Vernon woman feels unsafe and fed up after repeated thefts from her car

“MY SENSE OF SAFETY AND SECURITY, THAT’S PROBABLY THE BIGGEST THING THEY’VE TAKEN” VERNON - Pocket change, sunglasses, and credit cards are among the items stolen from Rhian Harrison’s car, but the Vernon resident says the biggest thing she’s lost over a series of thefts is her sense of safety and security. Since February, shortly...

Blood found outside Vernon school connected to stabbing incident

SUSPECT ARRESTED VERNON - Police have determined the blood found outside Ellison Elementary School in Vernon is connected to a stabbing incident. Officers had a portion of Fulton Road and Okanagan Landing Road outside the school cordoned off on Wednesday, May 28 while they investigated the scene and collected evidence. RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk said a man...

Vernon dog team nabs neighbourhood thief

VERNON - A man accused of stealing from peoples’ boats, cars and garages was stopped in his tracks by the Vernon RCMP’s dog unit over the long weekend. Police received a report of a suspicious man going through cars and yards in the Cranberry Lane area of Middleton Mountain Monday, May 18. One caller reported...

Armstrong man’s story “did not ring true” in sexual assault trial: Judge

ARMSTRONG - What began as a cordial conversation between two strangers hiding out from the rain at an Armstrong church took a sinister turn when the man pinned the woman against a wall, sexually assaulted her, and threatened to strangle her if she resisted. The woman, in her early 20s, was scared and hesitant at...

Lumby man sanctioned by B.C. Securities Commission

LUMBY - A Lumby man who tried — and ultimately failed — to get away with circumventing B.C. securities laws won’t be working anywhere near them for years. In 2006, Donald Gordon Byrne, a self-employed technician from Lumby, partnered up with friend and former business associate Robert Scott Morrice, according to a B.C. Securities Commission...

Jail time for Osoyoos man convicted in drunken hit and run

PENTICTON - An Osoyoos man with an apparent alcohol problem will have plenty of time behind bars to test his sobriety after he was sentenced to jail for an Osoyoos hit and run accident in 2014. Steven Troy Fields, 28, was sentenced today, May 4, after pleading guilty to one count of failure to stop...