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Police
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...
RCMP issue warning over persistent phone scammers in the Okanagan
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Residents are being reminded to watch for red flags if they get a call from someone claiming to be from Revenue Canada. Clues the call may be a scam include getting pressured by the person to pay taxes immediately over the phone, or being threatened that police will come and arrest them if...
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...
UPDATE: Missing Vernon woman located
UPDATE: 12:01 P.M., SEPT. 8, 2015 Vernon RCMP announced Tuesday, Sept. 8, that Cheryl 'Daisy' McEwan, who left a medical facility last week without completing her treatment, has been found. 6:43 A.M., SEPT. 4, 2015 VERNON - Authorities are appealing to the public for help finding a missing woman. Vernon RCMP say Cheryl ‘Daisy’ McEwan,...
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...
Foul play involved in body found in Polson Park
VERNON - Police are revealing more information about a man found dead last week in Polson Park. He has been identified as 42-year-old Jason Thomas Hardy, and police believe foul play was involved in his death. His body was found the morning of Aug. 26 in Polson Park. RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says Hardy has...
Pot oil extraction cause of explosion in Vernon apartment building
VERNON - An apartment fire that sent two men to hospital with serious burns was caused when a marijuana extraction operation exploded, police say. The occupants, a 21 and a 22-year-old, were badly burned in the fire and remain in hospital. Vernon police are now confirming the Aug. 14 fire was started by a marijuana...
Serious crimes unit investigates body found in Vernon park
VERNON - Police continue to investigate the death of a man found in Polson Park Wednesday. The man’s body was discovered shortly before 10 a.m. Aug. 26. In a media release issued today, Aug. 27, RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk confirmed the man was in his late 40s, but said his identity is not being released...
Whereabouts of missing workers from Vernon remain a mystery
VERNON - Two months after going missing, four migrant workers last seen in the Okanagan still have not been located. The four men, from Mexico, were working at an orchard in Vernon before going missing in late June. According to the Vernon RCMP, they’d been in Canada for ten days before taking a cab from...
Police investigate deadly crash in Spallumcheen
SPALLUMCHEEN - A man is dead after crashing his car on the highway just south of Armstrong early this morning. RCMP say an off-duty police officer discovered the man’s flipped car around 4:20 a.m., Aug. 21, on Highway 97A at Eagle Rock Road. “The investigators have determined the vehicle was north bound (and) jumped the...
Police investigating apartment fire that left two Vernon men with severe burns
VERNON - A pair of Vernon men were airlifted to Vancouver last week after suffering serious burns in an apartment fire. The two men, ages 20 and 21, were inside an apartment building in the 3400 block of Okanagan Avenue when a fire started in the bathroom. Deputy Vernon Fire Chief Jack Blair says they...
Driver tells Vernon RCMP he didn’t hear alarms, didn’t see flashing lights before hitting train
VERNON - Alarms and flashing lights apparently didn’t stop a man from driving into a moving train Monday evening in Vernon. RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says police were notified of the collision just after 6 p.m., Aug. 10. When officers arrived, the train was blocking the roadway at 43 Avenue and 31 Street. All lights...
Credit card skimmer discovered at Vernon gas station
DEVICE IS DIFFICULT TO DETECT VERNON - A device used to skim credit card information from unsuspecting victims might have been used at a Vernon gas station. Staff at the Esso Gas Station at 3400 32 St. in Vernon discovered the device Friday, July 31, and reported it to the RCMP. “The device was on...
VIDEO: Kelowna officer being investigated for exchange with driver, passenger
KELOWNA – Kelowna RCMP will investigate one of its own members after the officer stopped…
Pedestrian struck on Vernon crosswalk in critical condition
VERNON - A pedestrian is in critical condition after being hit by a car while using a Vernon crosswalk Saturday morning. The 53-year-old Vernon woman was walking in the crosswalk at Tronson Road and Okanagan Landing Road just after 7 a.m., Saturday, July 18, when she was hit by a car, RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk...
RCMP investigating disappearance of migrant workers from Vernon orchard
VERNON - Police are on the lookout for a group migrant workers from Mexico who went missing from a Vernon orchard in June. The four men left personal items behind, but appear to have taken their identification papers, RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says. The orchard owner told police they disappeared June 26. The men are...
Independent investigators hear from witnesses of officer involved shooting near Salmon Arm
SALMON ARM - Multiple witnesses have come forward to help the province’s police watchdog after a call for witnesses to an officer involved shooting near Salmon Arm. The Independent Investigations Office is looking into a July 3 incident, which began with an armed robbery. The suspect fled the scene in a vehicle which was found...
Kelowna women killed in Vernon car crash identified
VERNON - The B.C. Coroners Service has released the identities of two women who died in a head-on car accident in Vernon over the weekend. They were Chantal Diane Bazin, 22, and Kayla Elizabeth Cartwright, 26, both from Kelowna. According to a press release from the coroner Larry Marzinzik, Bazin was the driver, and Cartwright the...
Police watchdog looking for witnesses to Shuswap shooting
SALMON ARM - B.C.’s police watchdog is asking for anyone who witnessed a shooting involving an officer in the Salmon Arm area to come forward. The Independent Investigations Office is looking into a July 3 incident that left an individual, and an officer, injured. The extent of their injuries has not been disclosed. All that...
Police dive teams return to Kal Lake in search of missing man
VERNON - Police teams are focussing efforts on Kalamalka Lake as they search for a man missing since June 27. Curtis Wilson, 24, was last seen with his friend Shane Letkeman, 32, who was found dead in the lake June 28. Wilson’s family reported him missing last week, and police launched a full scale search...
UPDATE: Missing Lumby woman has been found safe
VERNON - Police say a Lumby woman has been found safe. A family member reported Susan Catt, 54, missing about 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 28, to the Lumby RCMP detachment. She was found sometime Tuesday, according to a RCMP release sent around midnight. An original release said Catt left her home in Lumby around...
Annual Naked Bike Ride gets the reaction it was looking for
KELOWNA - Organizers of the second Annual Naked Bike Ride in Kelowna are calling the event a success with much more media coverage and more positive reaction from the people they passed in the streets, even if their numbers were about the same as last year. “Last year we had zero media, we flew under...
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...
Vernon RCMP use creative tactic to send message about distracted driving
VERNON - Police in Vernon tested drivers with an unusual distracted driving campaign Monday afternoon involving a cardboard sign that read: ‘I am not homeless.’ If you kept reading, you’d see the sign went on to say, ‘RCMPolice looking for seatbelt/cell phones.’ RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says in a media release the sign was part...