An RCMP high-speed pursuit of a stolen vehicle that started in Enderby Friday night ended on a forest-service road between Grindrod and Mara with the suspect driver being shot by police. The force was used after the suspect, who had a female passenger, tried to ram an RCMP vehicle over a 55-foot embankment on the forest service road, and ended up ramming two other police vehicles involved in the chase. It's believed two officers fired shots into the stolen pick-up truck, striking the driver and causing the vehicle to go over the embankment.The male suspect was hit by one bullet in the upper shoulder area. He was taken to Kelowna General Hospital, treated and released into RCMP custody, where he remains. The female passenger was not seriously injured. She also remains in police custody. Two RCMP officers suffered minor injuries. Vernon RCMP Insp. Steve McVarnock said an independent review of the shooting will take place, which is standard RCMP procedure. McVarnock also said he fully backed his officers' use of force in this incident. You can read full details of the incident in Wednesday's Morning Star.
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Dangerous suspect shot by police Rachael Kimola - May 26, 2008 Castanet
A man called “an extreme danger to the public” has been taken off the streets in the north Okanagan, but RCMP had to face a very dangerous situation in order to make the arrest. Officers from several north Okanagan detachments became involved in a high speed chase with a stolen truck in the Sicamous area near Enderby Friday evening. The chase ended with the suspect vehicle ramming several police cruisers and the driver being shot by officers. Police found several large butcher knifes in the truck, as well as crack pipes and stolen license plates. Both the driver and his companion are facing numerous charges. Gord Molendyk of the Vernon RCMP says the driver, John Wesley Shaw, was arrested after trying to escape a police blockade on Forrest Service Road by ramming his way through three police cars which had him cornered against a dead end. “He was determined not to be arrested. An attempt to intercept the stolen truck resulted in Shaw doing a loop through a farmers field back onto Highway 97A going eastbound towards Grindrod. Three RCMP vehicles pursued Shaw up the service road which came to a dead end. Shaw turned around and proceeded back down the road and came across the first of the cruisers. He rammed into the front of the first car, pushing it back towards the edge of a very steep embankment,” says Molendyk.
He say the police vehicle became lodged onto a rock ledge that kept it from going over the embankment while the officer was still inside. “He then rammed a second cruiser, pushing it into a third. At that point, the officers fired at Shaw.” Molendyk says Shaw was still trying to escape arrest and in trying to drive past officers, he drove on the edge of an embankment causing the truck to roll over, coming to rest against a tree. He says Shaw was treated at Kelowna General Hospital for a gun shot wound to his upper chest/shoulder area and was released to RCMP custody shortly after. Shaw’s passenger, Svetlana Nenasheff, 37, was wanted on several outstanding warrants including breach of probation, possession of stolen property and obstruction. She received only minor injuries from the rollover. Shaw will face charges including assault with a weapon, dangerous driving causing a pursuit, driving while prohibited and possession of stolen property. Inspector Steve McVarnock says Shaw was wanted on a Canada wide warrant for operating a motor vehicle while prohibited and this wasn’t the first time he had rammed police cars. “The suspect in this matter was involved in a similar incident in Vernon during 2007. At that time, he rammed into several police vehicles in an attempt to escape being arrested. This individual is an extreme danger to the general public and it was believed that the subsequent arrest of this individual would result in a very dangerous set of circumstances,” says McVarnock. The RCMP officers involved in the incident suffered minor injuries related to the ramming, such as whiplash. One of the cruisers is considered a total write-off while the other two will be repaired. Both Shaw and Nenasheff are scheduled to appear in court Monday to face their various charges.
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