Police
Search for firearms leads mounties to Lumby grow-op
LUMBY - Police went looking for illegal firearms at a Lumby residence earlier this month and turned up what they call a dangerous, albeit legally licensed marijuana grow-op instead. Lumby Cpl. Henry Proce said police executed a search warrant Dec. 12 at a residence in the 1700 block of Grandview Avenue looking for firearms. The...
Vernon RCMP get in the spirit of giving
VERNON - Between attending car accidents on winter roads, looking for missing people, and investigating criminal cases, Vernon police officers are finding time to give back to the community this holiday season. Vernon RCMP officer Cpl. Yannick Lescarbeau, along with several hockey coaches and managers, organized a charity hockey tournament in support of the Sick...
RCMP vow to keep Penticton safe during Boonstock
PENTICTON - RCMP continue to work with Boonstock organizers to ensure concertgoers and the general public will stay safe during the August long weekend. Boonstock organizers shared an updated version of their security plan with RCMP after a new security company was hired to run the event. RCMP are not required to approve the plan,...
Police warn gangsters to avoid Kelowna this weekend
KELOWNA – With one of the city’s biggest festivals taking place in downtown Kelowna this weekend, local RCMP are once again issuing a public warning to gang members planning to take part. Sgt. Lindsey Houghton of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit says every year gangs are drawn to the Okanagan, but they are not...
RCMP: Pressure for emergency services reaches unprecedented level over long weekend
PENTICTON - RCMP said the pressure Boonstock put on emergency services over the long weekend was taken to unprecedented levels. In a statement released Wednesday, Const. Kris Clark said the large number of overdoses and the death of a 24-year-old Alberta woman caused “alarm for the overwhelmed emergency and security operations”. RCMP provided additional resources...
RCMP say Boonstock needs to reimburse government for additional police costs
PENTICTON - RCMP say Boonstock organizers need to reimburse the provincial government for additional police officers required during the festival weekend, after private security failed to provide adequate resources. The two final days of the festival required additional personnel since RCMP had to shift their focus to security and public safety. A new cost analysis...
Boonstock says RCMP accounting is ‘speculation’
PENTICTON - Boonstock organizers say they received a bill from the provincial government three-and-a-half times more than the additional $50,000 RCMP say is owed for extra costs incurred over the festival weekend last month. The Ministry of Justice sent an invoice to Boonstock organizers with a “total owing” of nearly $177,000, and gave them 30...
A Penticton proposal getting support from unexpected places
PENTICTON - Penticton council has an unexpected supporter for its push to put oversight for large-scale events under the provincial umbrella—the Boonstock Music and Arts festival. All but one member of Penticton's councillors and mayor used the Union of B.C. Municipalities Convention this week to lobby provincial government ministers hard to take on the regulatory...
Still no RCMP invoice for Boonstock
PENTICTON - It’s been almost three months since Boonstock weekend and festival organizers still have not received a copy of the RCMP expense report, which outlines additional costs incurred over the four-day festival. Forty officers were scheduled to work the festival weekend and racked up a $200,000 bill paid for by Boonstock. But in September,...
What the police expense report for Boonstock looks like
PENTICTON - The police expense report from the Boonstock festival weekend in August has been made public and reveals hundreds of thousands of dollars in overtime, car cleaning services and general supplies. The police report, released by the provincial government Monday, outlines the $252,715 in policing costs—both anticipated and unexpected—for the August long weekend when over...
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....
Westside car accident leaves three horses dead
VERNON - Three horses died in a collision with a truck on Westside Road over the weekend. RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk says a pick-up truck hit the horses around 12:10 a.m. on Dec. 13 on Westside Road near Pinecrest Road. The front end of the truck was badly damaged. Two horses died right away, and...
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...