Theft and a bail breach kept Salmon Arm RCMP busy in early March, as officers responded to two incidents in as many days.
On March 6, officers responded to a liquor store at 11th Avenue NE, where a 35-year-old woman was apparently very thirsty. She took two bottles of whisky, placed one inside her jacket and attempted to pay for the other, but her bank card was declined. The woman not only left with the one unpaid bottle, but also made an encore.
“The woman returned shortly after, looking for her phone, and stole a bottle of vodka without any attempt to pay,” Const. Andrew Hodges said in a March 22 media release. “The incident was caught on video surveillance, and police have identified the alleged offender.”
Charges are pending, with the incident having been submitted to the BC Prosecution Service for assessment.
Just days later, on March 8, patrolling officers noticed a 40-year-old man trying to hide in the driver’s seat of a vehicle parked at a known problem residence.
They pulled in to speak to the man, who claimed he was lying down while talking to his mom on the phone, but officers saw that the ignition was punched out and the licence plate was clearly altered.
“The man provided a name and claimed he was from Vancouver Island, then tried to walk away,” Hodges said in the release, adding that police detained the man while they investigated further.
Officers determined that the vehicle wasn’t stolen, but had no insurance and wasn’t registered to the man in front of them.
“Police then located identification for the man on him, which showed a different name than he provided,” Hodges said. “It was then discovered the man had warrants out of Nanaimo and Elk Valley, and was in breach of his probation order condition to not enter a motor vehicle.”
The man was arrested and held for a bail hearing, where he was released on conditions by a justice of the peace. One count of fail to comply with a probation order was approved against the man, Brendan Treacy.
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