RCMP across several jurisdictions in the Southern Interior are looking for suspects who are allegedly responsible for a string of crimes committed in the Thompson-Nicola, Nicola Valley, and North and Central Okanagan regions, and have released surveillance cameras images of one of the suspects and his vehicle.
On Nov. 4, a suspect associated with a burgundy Dodge Ram D-150 pickup truck tried to use counterfeit currency at a gas station on the Trans-Canada Highway in Kamloops. When police investigated, they found that the truck’s licence plate had been stolen from a vehicle in the Armstrong area. The plate—KK2078—remains outstanding.
On Nov. 6, shortly after 8 p.m., Merritt RCMP officers responded to a fraud in progress at a gas station on Airport Road. When they arrived, they were told that an unknown male suspect was allegedly inside the store attempting to pass counterfeit U.S. and Canadian currency.
The responding officer noted the presence of the suspect Ram D-150 truck, which the unknown male used to flee the scene. The officer noticed that the truck contained multiple occupants.
“The suspect allegedly accelerated towards the responding officer, and sideswiped his fully marked police vehicle before fleeing the area eastbound, not pursued by police,” says Cpl. Jesse O’Donaghey, spokesperson for the BC RCMP Southeast District.
Shortly after 10 p.m. on Nov. 6, West Kelowna RCMP were alerted to a hit-and-run collision in the parking lot of a business located on Boucherie Road involving the same suspect vehicle, which was last seen heading towards Kelowna. Kelowna RCMP deployed a spike belt on the east end of the William R. Bennett Bridge to try to disable vehicle, but the driver performed an evasive manoeuvre, and managed to avoid the spike belt by driving over the concrete meridian of the highway.
A second motorist’s vehicle was struck when the suspect pulled a U-turn and proceeded back across the bridge towards West Kelowna. The drivers involved the collisions were reportedly uninjured, and police did not pursue the suspect vehicle.
Multiple police jurisdictions are sharing information about the incidents with each other, and the RCMP cautions anyone who spots the suspect vehicle not to approach it, or any of its occupants. Instead, immediately call local police or dial 9-1-1.
For more photographs, go the BC RCMP newsroom at http://bit.ly/2K3iIVu. If you have any information about any of these crimes, call your local RCMP detachment, or (if you wish to remain anonymous) Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
editorial@accjournal.ca
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