Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Partiers attack Vernon cops

by Rachael Kimola - Jul 14, 2008
It was an unnerving situation for Vernon RCMP over the weekend when a group of young party goers started throwing rocks at them. Police responded to a complaint of a noisy party at Kalamalka Lake Road near the railroad tracks just after 10:30 Friday night. RCMP spokesperson, Gord Molendyk, says after arriving on scene they immediately took several of the loud party-goers into custody. “While that was happening, several of the party-goers climbed onto the railway tracks, which is directly above the location of the party and began throwing rocks at the police below,” says Molendyk. He says they threw small rocks for a few minutes and then began throwing larger pieces of concrete at officers. “Thankfully, none of the officers were injured, but they could have been. Some damage was done to the police cruisers in the form of dents and some broken windows.” Molendyk says due to the elevated location of the tracks, the rock throwers got away before police could arrest them. “They were above the officers’ heads, so they couldn’t identify who was throwing the rocks. It’s very unsettling to think what could have happened if one of the rocks had hit someone in the head. They had no protection.” The people arrested are facing charges of being drunk in a public place.
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Prolific offender nabbed by Rachael Kimola - Jul 14, 2008
It didn’t work with the first victim, but it did with the second. A man was approached by another male in the parking lot of the Vernon Wholesale Club just after 5 p.m. Friday. The suspect pointed a gun at the man and demanded his car keys. Gord Molendyk of the Vernon RCMP says the victim realized the gun was a toy and refused to hand over his keys. “The suspect ran away. A few minutes later, in the same parking lot, he pulled his fake gun on a woman and said to give him her car keys or he‘d kill her. She gave him her car keys and he drove off,” says Molendyk. He says minutes later, the suspect traded the car for drugs. “A short time later, police spotted the stolen vehicle on 25th Avenue. The driver eluded police for a few blocks but was arrested on 39th Avenue. The driver tried to convince police that the car wasn’t stolen, that it was just given to him.” Molendyk says the driver was arrested and is facing charges of possession of stolen property. “He was able to give police a description of the man who robbed the woman and he was arrested a short time later. A 38-year-old man of no fixed address faces charges of robbery.” He says the driver of the stolen car is considered one of the Okanagan’s most prolific offenders, with outstanding warrants from several areas. The driver had been out of jail for just two weeks before being arrested.

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