A Surrey drug dealer arrested with fentanyl-laced heroin and other drugs during a traffic stop on the Coquihalla last year has been handed a 15-month prison sentence, despite the Crown suggesting he spend four years behind bars.

Clayton Johnson was also placed on a two-year probation term that will begin following his release from jail.

The 40-year-old was pulled over south of Merritt on Jan. 19, 2016, and admitted to police he was carrying drugs.

A search turned up nearly four ounces of crystal meth, two ounces of cocaine and nearly two ounces of heroin containing fentanyl.

In calling for a four-year sentence, federal Crown prosecutor Anthony Varesi said Canada’s courts have set a high bar for fentanyl offences given the staggering overdose numbers in recent years.

Defence lawyer Jeremy Jensen disagreed, saying the fentanyl crisis was not common knowledge in January 2016.

RELATED:

Fentanyl courier awaits sentencing in Kamloops court

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A Kamloops contractor who sent nude photos of his four-year-old niece to an undercover FBI agent and bragged about “licking and sniffing” dirty underwear while in the homes of clients has been ordered to spend more than 15 months in jail.

The 38-year-old contractor, who cannot be named under a court-ordered publication ban protecting the identity of his niece, was sentenced on Wednesday after earlier pleading guilty to a string of charges, including distributing child pornography, sexual interference of a person under 16 and breaching release conditions.

Court heard the offender arrived on police radar in February, when he sent an email to an undercover FBI agent who was active in online forums known to be frequented by child predators.

“The bulletins posted were intended to attract suspects with an interest in children,” Crown prosecutor Katie Bouchard said.

The man’s email asked the undercover investigator for “any peeps or sneaks” to trade, meaning pornographic images of young people taken without their knowledge. Attached to the email were two pornographic images of a young girl, later determined to be his niece. He told the agent the photos were “homemade.”

In a later email, the offender told the agent he worked as a contractor and would seek out underwear while in clients’ homes.

“When in houses, he said he takes pictures of dirty underwear and licks and sniffs them, knowing he could get caught,” Bouchard said.

The man later sent four additional pornographic images of the same young girl to the agent.

When the man said he had a visit with the girl scheduled for the coming weekend, FBI investigators traced his location to a home in Kamloops and notified Canadian police, who took over the investigation on Feb. 16.

Kamloops Mounties arrested the offender when he returned home from work the following day. He admitted having taken the photos of his niece and apologized to the girl’s father in a phone call made from the Kamloops RCMP’s Battle Street detachment.

A search of the man’s home turned up no additional child pornography, but investigators uncovered a number of troubling search terms in his internet history dating back to 2010, including “hidden camera,” “locker room,” “first time” and “little panties.”

“This tells the court [the man’s] predilections go back much earlier than his offending in this case,” Bouchard said.

Two cellphones belonging to the man could not be searched, court heard. One broke during his arrest and the other was a password-protected iPhone.

Court heard the offender breached his release conditions in May by repairing an air-conditioning unit in a home in which a seven-year-old girl was present. He hugged the girl when she left the home.

He also pleaded guilty to one count of being unlawfully in a dwelling after entering a suite he had previously done work on late at night without the resident’s consent in July.

In the latter case, a single mother was home with her two young children at the time. Bouchard said the man was no longer working on the renovation.

“He had previously been fired for strange and creepy behaviour,” she said.

Defence lawyer Don Campbell urged Kamloops provincial court Judge Roy Dickey to impose a prison sentence in the range of 12 to 13 months for the man. Bouchard had suggested a sentence in the range of 14 to 18 months.

Campbell described his client as a pornography addict.

“He has an addictive personality that seems to control his behaviours,” he said. “This is something that can be addressed [in custody].”

Dickey said the gravity of the man’s offence is significant, calling the circumstances “deplorable and reprehensible.”

“It’s an aggravating fact that [he] committed the offence by abusing a person under the age of 18 years,” the judge said.

Dickey ordered the offender to spend 15-and-a-half months behind bars. After being given credit for time served, he has just over a year left in jail.

In addition to the jail time, the offender will be bound by a three-year probation term with conditions requiring him to seek counselling and barring him from having contact with children. He was also ordered to register as a sex offender for 20 years and surrender a sample of his DNA to a national criminal database.

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A Fountain woman is suing the Stl’atl’imx Tribal police, a constable and the province for what she claims is an assault at Lillooet’s hospital that left her with a broken collar bone and PTSD.

Regine Adolph also alleges a physician at the hospital told her he had to take a blood sample to test for HIV — and would tie her down if needed — since another woman alleged she was bitten by Adolph.

Notice of civil claim was filed in B.C. Supreme Court on Oct. 17 for the incident alleged to have occurred on Oct. 31, 2015.

None of the defendants have yet filed a statement of defence

The notice states the incident began at Adoph’s residence in Fountain, just                                outside of Lillooet.

The Stl’atl’imx police were dispatched following a report of an altercation between Adolph and another woman, Lavonne Patrick.

“On arrival Const. (Leonard) Isaac assessed the situation and advised the plaintiff he was placing her under arrest under the Mental Health Act,” the notice of civil claim states.

Adolph was known to police for having psychiatric problems, as well as for drug and alcohol abuse.

The statement of claim alleges Adolph was told by a doctor she would be tied down if necessary in order to test for HIV due to the allegation she was HIV-positive and had bitten another woman.

“The accusations of Ms. Patrick were patently false, all of which made the plaintiff extremely distraught upon hearing them,” the notice of civil claim states.

The lawsuit claims the tribal police officer used excessive force when he handcuffed Adolph and attempted to restrain her.

“The defendant Isaac ignored the plaintiff’s pleas and then placed his knee on the handcuffs applying further weight,” the notice of civil claim states.

“This additional weight applied to the handcuffs forced the plaintiffs left shoulder to be pulled back to the extent that the plaintiff heard her left shoulder snap. She was left screaming, laying on the floor of the emergency room with her hair now covered in blood, sweat and mucus.”

None of the allegations have been heard or proven in court.

Adolph is seeking an undisclosed sum for damages and income loss.

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A Kamloops man convicted five years ago of making or publishing child pornography failed in his bid on Thursday to be removed from Canada’s list of registered sex offenders.

Frank Desmet appeared briefly in Kamloops provincial court, asking Judge Chris Cleaveley to either rescind the order requiring him to register as a sex offender or reduce its length.

Desmet was ordered to register as a sex offender for 20 years at the time of his 2012 conviction. He called the order “cruel and unusual punishment.”

In court on Thursday, Cleaveley told Desmet the law requires him to wait at least 10 years to apply to have the order rescinded.

In 2015, Desmet was placed on a three-year probation term after breaching conditions of an earlier probation order.

In that instance, court heard he showed up to court-ordered sex offender counselling with pamphlets titled 10 Myths About Sex Offenders and passed them out to other participants. He also failed to complete the counselling sessions.

As part of his probation, Desmet is required to undergo further counselling and banned from having contact with children under the age of 16. He must also stay away from parks, schools and day cares.

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Spider-Man is not going to jail.

The Kamloops man who portrays the Marvel superhero at children’s birthday parties had been facing a potential nine-month prison sentence after pleading guilty last week to drug-trafficking charges, but a B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled Wednesday he will not spend any time behind bars.

Joshua Vos was instead placed on a two-year probation term, the first 12 months of which will be served under house arrest.

In September 2016, Vos sent a text to the wrong number, offering a number of hallucinogenic drugs for sale. The recipient of the text happened to be a Kamloops RCMP officer and Vos was eventually contacted by an undercover Mountie looking to score party drugs.

The 25-year-old met with the officer on three occasions, selling her nearly 10 grams of MDMA, also known as ecstasy.

Months later, the undercover Mountie contacted Vos again, but he told her he had a change of heart and was no longer selling drugs. He also refused to provide her another dealer’s contact information or play middleman.

In court last week, Vos was described as a yoga devotee who was dabbling in hallucinogens for spiritual purposes. He works part-time as a children’s entertainer and gymnastics coach and had no prior criminal record.

Vos said he believed at the time that he was doing good by selling the drugs, but now realizes he was sorely mistaken.

“With this background, Mr. Vos is a most unlikely candidate as a drug dealer,” B.C. Supreme Court Justice Hope Hyslop said Wednesday in sentencing him.

“Mr. Vos recognized what he did was wrong. I find that he has rehabilitated himself.”

Terms of Vos’ house arrest will allow him to leave home to work or attend school. In addition to the probation, he was also banned from possessing a firearm for 10 years and ordered to submit a sample of his DNA to a national criminal database.

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A 35-year-old Kamloops man faces 13 charges stemming from  Friday’s incident that included police being shot at, followed by a 17-hour standoff in the G&M Trailer Court off Highway 5 North.

Shane William Caron has been charged with four counts of attempted murder (in connection to shots being fired from a rifle at Mounties), use of a firearm while committing an assault, possession of a firearm without a licence, unlawfully occupying a vehicle with a firearm, discharging a firearm to prevent arrest, assault (related to the original complaint from Nanaimo Street to police at about 6:30 a.m. on Friday), unlawfully in a dwelling (related to the original complaint from Nanaimo Street to police at about 6:30 a.m. on Friday) and three counts of failure to comply with court conditions (related to the original complaint from Nanaimo Street to police at about 6:30 a.m. on Friday).

The 13 charges are in addition to the domestic assault-related charges Caron was previously facing, which are also before the courts.

Caron is scheduled to appear in court on Monday.

Kamloops Mounties have finished processing the crime scene trailer park and RCMP Staff Sgt. Simon Pillay said more charges may be recommended.

“This was an event that shook our whole city. Many people were adversely effected by this incident, like the children who couldn’t leave Sk’elep School on the Kamloops Indian Band Reserve, the residents of the effected neighbourhoods and the motorists trying to travel on Highway 5,” Pillay said.

“However, the community support through this operation has been overwhelmingly positive and the RCMP is very appreciative. I would like to say a special thank you to the residents of G&M Trailer Park who unfortunately endured a lengthy an uncomfortable situation. This community was very helpful to the police and graciously brought refreshments and even homemade food to the RCMP members posted there around the clock. Gestures like that really make a difference to morale and for that we sincerely thank you.”

Police were initially called for a report of a domestic assault involving the suspect at a North Shore home at 6 a.m. on Friday. The suspect had been released on bail on Oct. 16 following a previous arrest for alleged domestic violence.

RCMP Supt. Brad Mueller said investigators located the suspect at a home on Nanaimo Street in North Kamloops at about 9:40 a.m.

“When police tried to make contact with the suspect, he responded by threatening to shoot police with a firearm,” he said.

The suspect emerged from the home armed with a rifle and fled in a pickup truck, Mueller said, noting an RCMP tactical team was then called in to help.

Mueller said officers followed the truck from Nanaimo Street to the Mount Paul industrial area, with the suspect firing at police multiple times during the pursuit. He said some police vehicles suffered damage, and one area business told KTW its building was struck by a stray bullet.

According to Mueller, the suspect then retreated to his home in G&M trailer park, exchanging gunfire with the RCMP tactical team while doing so.

The suspect was arrested at about 4 a.m. on Saturday.

There were no injuries sustained during the events of Friday and early Saturday.

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Dressed in an orange prison-issue jumpsuit and sporting a black eye, a Kamloops man accused of opening fire on police on four separate occasions Friday before holing up in his home for 17 hours smiled at his family during a brief appearance in court on Monday.

Shane Caron, 35, is facing a dozen charges — including four counts of attempted murder for shooting at RCMP officers — stemming from Friday’s events.

According to court documents, the incident began Friday morning at a home on Cedar Street in North Kamloops.

There, Caron is alleged to have assaulted his ex-girlfriend.

At about 9:40 a.m., police tracked Caron to a basement suite on Nanaimo Avenue, where he allegedly threatened to shoot officers. According to Mounties, Caron emerged from the home armed with a rifle and fled in a pickup truck.

Kamloops RCMP Supt. Brad Mueller said officers chased the truck onto the Tk’emlups Indian Band reserve, where shots were exchanged with police on four occasions.

One stray bullet struck a building on Athabasca Way. An employee of Varsteel said he heard multiple shots fired before noticing a bullet hole in a wall.

“We heard pop, pop, pop, pop, pop,” Chris Brown told KTW.

Caron is alleged to have then fled to his home in G&M trailer park, where neighbours reported having heard multiple additional shots fired.

Police have alleged Caron fired at Mounties and then shot his rifle again inside his home.

He was arrested at 4 a.m. on Saturday following hours of negotiation with police.

“This was a prolonged negotiation that was very tense,” Mueller said. “On several occasions, the suspect made explicit threats to police and discharged his rifle within the home.”

During his appearance in Kamloops provincial court on Monday, Caron was placed on a no-contact order with a number of people including his ex-girlfriend and his father.

He is expected to return to court on Nov. 6.

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The parents of a Kamloops man facing four charges of attempted murder after allegedly opening fire on police Friday say the incident could have concluded much quicker than it did.

Shane Caron was taken into custody early Saturday morning at the conclusion of a 17-hour standoff with police. He is facing 12 charges stemming from the incident, before which he is alleged to have fired at Mounties on four separate occasions.

The 35-year-old’s parents, Bill McGinn and Kathy Caron, live in the G&M Trailer Park with their son. They argue the incident did not have to turn into the protracted ordeal it became.

“I could have talked him out of that f—ing house in five minutes and I told the cops that,” McGinn told KTW. “They said, ‘Nope. We can’t put you in harm’s way.’”

McGinn said he does not deny the allegations his son is facing. He said his son was distraught during the standoff. The two spoke on the phone on multiple occasions during the standoff before police cut the line in the mid-afternoon, McGinn said.

“We were in contact while this standoff was going on and then they just cut him off,” McGinn said.

“He was crying. He was f—ing scared. I told the cops, ‘That’s my kid and we have a serious situation. We could end it right now.’ He was so f—ing scared, he was bawling steady.”

McGinn also took issue with police stating his son fired his rifle inside the home.

“That’s what they used for the search warrant to get in the house, that he was shooting in the house,” he said.

“There’s not one bullet hole. I asked the officer where the bullet hole was. He said he couldn’t find one.”

Kathy Caron said the whole incident could have been avoided. She said her son was committed under the Mental Health Act in July and police seized his guns.

“They must have missed one,” she said, referring to the weapon allegedly used on Friday. “They were supposed to come in and take all his guns.”

Caron believes it’s a failure of the systems in place to keep people and the community safe when dealing with mental illness.

“They should have done something,” she said, describing her son as “paranoid” in recent months while dealing with domestic issues with his ex-girlfriend.

Caron also admitted her son was a frequent user of cocaine and said he feared a group of people he claimed was trying to kill him.

“[They have] been threatening to cut him into pieces,” she said. “Is that normal? Of course he’s going crazy. He needs help. He’s hopefully going to get it now because he’s had psychiatric issues for some time.”

Caron said she hopes her son is given the opportunity to get his life back on track.

“Before the last year or so, he was fine,” she said. “I was proud of him. I really believe it was the drugs that did it.”

Caron was already facing a number of domestic assault-related charges, which are also before the courts, stemming from an incident earlier this month.

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A preliminary inquiry is underway for a Shuswap man charged with murder in relation to a hit-and-run crash near Chase last year.

Raymond Edward Swann is facing charges of second-degree murder and criminal negligence causing death in connection to the April 3, 2016, death of 60-year-old Brian Watson.

Swann’s preliminary inquiry began on Monday in Kamloops provincial court and is slated to wrap up on Friday.

Watson was riding his motorcycle on Squilax-Anglemont Road when he was struck by another vehicle and died. Swann is accused of driving a pickup truck that struck Watson.

The victim’s widow, Ila, has previously told KTW police believed the collision appeared deliberate, but said her husband and Swann did not know each other.

Prior to his death, Watson worked in Kamloops for School District No. 73 as a facilities painter. He and his wife lived in Chase.

Watson’s family members, including Ila, filled the first two rows of a Kamloops courtroom for the first two days of Swann’s preliminary inquiry.

Swann, who is from Sorrento, is not in custody.

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A man who traded bedrooms with his roommate and had sex with the man’s former girlfriend, who was initially passed out in his bed, was spared a jail sentence Tuesday.

“This is a very difficult sentencing decision,” said Kamloops provincial court judge Chris Cleaveley.

The name of the victim is protected by court order. Due to the relationship, Kamloops This Week is not publishing the name of the accused as doing do could indirectly identify the victim.

The 24-year-old man pleaded guilty to sexual assault in connection to events of Jan. 30, 2016, that included elements of mistaken identity.

On that night, the victim was drinking with friends and went to a city nightclub, where she became seriously intoxicated.The 24-year-old man and his roommate, the victim’s former boyfriend, were also drinking at the club.

In his decision, Cleaveley said the roommate was concerned with his former girlfriend’s level of intoxication and offered to take her to his house.

The victim passed out in her former boyfriend’s bed. When his new girlfriend came home, however, an argument ensued. Eventually, the 24-year-old and the roommate agreed to exchange bedrooms for the night to solve the problem.

“[The 24-year-old man]entered . . . the [roommate’s] bedroom, stripped down to his boxers and climbed into bed. At that point, [the victim] was asleep,” Cleaveley wrote in his decision.

The judge said the 24-year-old man identified himself by his first name several times,  but the victim said she didn’t believe it. Eventually, the 24-year-old man got out of bed and turned on the light. The victim screamed and jumped out of the bed. The 24-year-old man, who had engaged in sexual intercourse with the woman, then touched her genitals.

The victim wrote a statement describing the impact on her.

“She has missed classes, has had difficulty concentrating during lectures and studying . . . Not surprisingly, [she] wrote about a ‘sense of worthlessness and constant sadness.’”

Cleaveley noted the 24-year-old man intended from the beginning to plead guilty, despite the potential frailty of the evidence against him. He is a university student, has no criminal record and expressed remorse.

“There can be no downplaying the seriousness of [the 24-year-old man’s] offending,” Cleaveley said. “He violated her privacy and dignity by having unwanted sexual intercourse with her and then further compounded his offending by digitally penetrating [her] when it must have been apparent she wanted nothing to do with him and only wanted to leave.”

The Crown asked for a jail sentence.

Cleaveley imposed an 18-month conditional sentence order that includes six months of house arrest and six further months of curfew.

The 24-year-old man will also be listed on the sex-offender registry for 10 years.

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A Kamloops woman who had her lawsuit tossed when she tried to sue the city for work it completed on her “problem” home on McGowan Avenue has been granted a new hearing by B.C.’s highest court.

A three-judge B.C. Court of Appeal panel has ruled in favour of Linda Watt, finding the B.C. Supreme Court judge who ruled in favour of the city last year misunderstood an argument put forward in court.

Watt’s home at 356 McGowan Ave. on the North Shore has caused issues for neighbours and city staff for more than nine years.

The house was damaged in a fire in 2008 and never repaired. Reports and inspections found it was, at times, home to guests that included pigeons, vermin and squatters.

City staff made attempts in 2011 and 2012 to have Watt to clean up her property, which had been deemed a health and fire hazard.

Kamloops city council eventually took a series of actions under provincial laws that allowed it to enter the home and conduct repairs at Watt’s expense. The work took place in early 2014.

Watt sued city hall, accusing municipal authorities of trespassing and theft. Her lawyer also argued Watt was never served paperwork prior to the work being done.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Hope Hyslop ruled in favour of the city, ordering Watt to fork over $58,000 in remediation fees and court costs.

The B.C. Court of Appeal found Hyslop “misapprehended” an argument put forward by Watt’s lawyer about a photograph of Watt used by a process server for identification.

Watt’s lawsuit will return to B.C. Supreme Court for a new hearing.

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A group of campers who used a closed provincial park campground as a private retreat have been handed a series of fines in Kamloops provincial court.

Five people were sentenced Thursday under the Park Act: James Broshak and Clinton Davies pleaded guilty to illegal camping and illegal use of a vehicle; Marc Skjerpen, Alicia Davies and Derek Davies each pleaded guilty to a single count of illegal camping.

The charges and pleas are connected to an incident on a summer weekend in August 2016 at Momich Lakes Provincial Park, which is at the north end of Adams Lake, about 100 kilometres northeast of Kamloops.

Crown prosecutor Joel Gold said the offences under the provincial Park Act would typically be dealt with through tickets handed out by conservation officers, but noted these events were “aggravated.”

The enforcement officers who were tipped off about a birthday party weekend at the closed camping area spied the group using off-road vehicles on the beach. A boulder was also moved by a truck in order to get access to the closed area.

A sixth man charged is expected in court later this year facing additional counts related to firearms.

Conservation officers also seized a handgun that was used for target practice nearby.

“It’s not a common case at all,” Gold said.

The park, which has a high conservation value, was closed due to a wildfire in 2009 that caused slope instability at the campground. There are also numerous hazard trees in the park.

One of the five, Alicia Davies, complained to provincial court judge Stephen Harrison that the closure was not properly signed from the lake and river access, where some of the campers entered.

She also said a number of other people at the site were never charged by conservation officers.

Harrison noted, however, the onus is on campers to ensure they are in areas not closed.

Broshak and Clinton Davies each received fines under the act totalling $600 for the two charges. Alicia Davies was fined $250, while Skjerpen was fined $300 on the single charge.

Harrison levied a $400 fine on Derek Davies, who was celebrating his birthday that weekend and is a registered guide outfitter.

“Given your professional qualifications, you should have known better,” Harrison said.

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A defence lawyer representing a 40-year-old charged with attempted murder in connection with an assault of a teen who was beaten into a coma will apply to move the trial to Kelowna.

Lawyers spoke briefly Monday in B.C. Supreme Court in Kamloops to set trial dates for Kristopher Teichrieb. He is facing charges of attempted murder and aggravated assault in connection with the beating last year of Jessie Simpson.

The then-18-year-old Simpson — who is now 20 — was assaulted in the early-morning hours of June 19, 2016, in the vicinity of Holt Street and Clifford Avenue in Brocklehurst.

Simpson’s friends and family have said the Savona teen and South Kamloops secondary student was celebrating high school graduation the night before the attack and may have been searching for a group of friends when he was assaulted.

Teichrieb’s lawyer, Jordan Watt, has filed an application to move the trial from Kamloops due to the notoriety of the incident, in order to give his client a fair trial. A date will be set next month to hear the application.

Teichrieb was arrested within minutes of the June 2016 incident and has been in custody since.

A trial date had been set for Jan. 8 in Kamloops.

After spending months in a coma, Simpson began to wake up following a brain surgery in January. Since then, Simpson’s condition has fluctuated and he has been sent to Royal Inland Hospital’s intensive-care unit multiple times.

Simpson’s mother, Susanna Simpson, told KTW last month that his condition had improved a bit, though he remains in hospital. In June, a B.C. Supreme Court judge declared Simpson legally infirm, appointing his mother to act on his behalf.

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Hearings scheduled to be held prior to the trial of a man accused in a hit-and-run crash that killed a 16-year-old Kamloops girl have been pushed back a month.

The weeks of March 26 to April 13, 2018, were set aside Monday in B.C. Supreme Court for a hearing to determine what evidence will be allowed at the trial of Jason Gourlay. The trial itself is scheduled for June 2018.

The 42-year-old is facing charges of failing to remain at the scene of an accident and tampering with evidence, as well as unrelated counts of possession of a controlled substance and breach of bail conditions.

Jennifer Gatey was struck and killed alongside Pacific Way on Nov. 4, 2016, while waiting for a bus. The 16-year-old lived with her family in a home less than a block away from the bus stop. She was killed a day before her 17th birthday.

The driver of the vehicle that struck her did not stop and drove away. Police soon released video from a home-surveillance system in the area showing what appeared to be a dark-coloured Jeep-style vehicle in the area at about the time Gatey was killed.

During the next two days, Nov. 5 and Nov. 6, 2016, police received a tip and descended on a home in Dufferin, across Highway 1 from Aberdeen. There, police strung yellow tape around the yard and covered the front half of a black Jeep with a tarp as they examined the vehicle. There was what appeared to minor damage to the driver’s side front end of the vehicle.

Police then seized the Jeep and forensic evidence was collected.

Gourley was arrested and charged on March 3 of this year.

The post Hearings in Gourlay fatal hit-and-run case delayed; accused will stand trial in June 2018 appeared first on Kamloops This Week.

Charges have been laid against a Kamloops man accused of firing a gun during a robbery in a Brocklehurst apartment building on Saturday, inadvertently striking a man in a neighbouring unit.

Bradley John Hartling is facing seven charges, including one count of robbery with a firearm, stemming from the incident.

The 28-year-old is alleged to have entered a suite in an apartment building at 805 Holt St. on Saturday morning armed with a gun.

Police said a bullet went through a wall and struck a 24-year-old man in a neighbouring apartment. He was treated for minor injuries to his leg and released from hospital.

RCMP Cpl. Jodi Shelkie said investigators traced Hartling to a home in Paul Lake, where he was arrested without incident. She said he was previously known to police.

Other charges Hartling is facing include assault with a weapon, unlawfully discharging a firearm and possession of a firearm contrary to a court order.

He is slated to appear in Kamloops provincial court for a bail hearing on Nov. 20.

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A 33-year-old man is facing charges following an incident on Monday night in which a truck driver was held at gunpoint for four hours as he drove from Avola to Kamloops.

RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk say the incident began at about 4 p.m. south of Avola when an officer came across a driver slumped behind the wheel of a running minivan at the Wire Cache rest area.

Moskaluk said the Mountie placed the driver in the rear seat of the police cruiser as the man was suspected of being under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

But the man managed to overpower the officer and escape from the cruiser. He jumped in his minivan and raced north on Highway 5.

Moskaluk said the driver forced a pickup truck to stop on the highway about three kilometres south of Avola.

“The officer pulled up to observe that the suspect was armed with what appeared to be a handgun as the suspect approached the pickup truck,” Moskaluk said.

“Upon the officer’s arrival, the suspect abandoned his attempts which permitted the unharmed driver of the truck to flee. Once again, the suspect fled northbound.”

The suspect then smashed the window of a semi-truck in an unsuccessful attempt to have the driver help him escape, police said.

The man then jumped into a second semi-truck parked nearby, threatened the driver and brandished a gun. The trucker drove southbound, with Mounties following in unmarked vehicles, police said.

“Police were able to communicate with the driver via telephone who feigned he was speaking to his dispatcher in order to not alert the suspect,” Moskaluk said.

He noted a tactical plan was devised to have the driver escape the truck once it stopped at the designated site, which happened to be the weigh scales on the Coquihalla Highway, just south of the Copperhead Road exit in Kamloops.

The truck driver, 43-year-old Robert Price, told Global News the man who commandeered his vehicle nodded off periodically during the drive to Kamloops.

Price said the man was asleep when he pulled into the weigh scales and escaped the truck.

Moskaluk said the gas canisters were used in an unsuccessful bid to get the suspect out of the truck. Instead, he tried to drive the rig, only to crash and overturn its load of lumber in a few hundred metres away.

Moskaluk said the suspect received a minor dog bite while being arrested, noting a handgun was found in the cab of the truck.

Charged with kidnapping, use of a firearm in the commission of an offence and other counts is David Lee Chappell.

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A police officer is facing a criminal charge stemming from an alleged incident at the Merritt RCMP detachment earlier this year.

Merritt RCMP Sgt. Norm Flemming has been charged with one count of assault. The allegation dates back to an incident on May 15.

No details about the allegations have been made public. Flemming is expected to appear in Merritt provincial court on Dec. 5.

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A Kamloops man has pleaded guilty to a string of criminal charges stemming from domestic assault incidents involving his former girlfriend.

Jeremy Krug, 18, entered guilty pleas in Kamloops provincial court on Thursday to two counts each of obstruction of justice and breaching court orders, as well as a single count of domestic assault causing bodily harm.

Krug remains is in custody. Sentencing is expected to take place on Dec. 6, at which time details of the offences will be made public.

Krug’s ex-girlfriend, who is named in court documents as the victim in the domestic assault to which he pleaded guilty, was reported missing last month. She was located three days later.

Krug, who has no prior criminal record, has been behind bars since his arrest on Oct. 13.

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A Kamloops cat burglar who stole a laptop, a cellphone and money from a downtown townhouse while its residents slept has been handed a two-year prison sentence.

Leo Neveu, 44, pleaded guilty to one count of break and enter in Kamloops provincial court.

Court heard Neveu entered a townhouse on First Avenue sometime between midnight and 4:45 a.m. on July 20, 2016, by removing a screen on an open dining room window.

Residents of the home told police they woke up to find items missing and the front door open. Nenveu’s fingerprints were found on a change dish and a cellphone box.

In court, Neveu described himself as a drug addict who hopes to turn his life around by taking a job at a mine in Ontario.

“Fentanyl is going to kill me,” he said. “Maybe I could have survived the China white in the early ‘90s, but fentanyl is killing people and I don’t want to die.”

After being given credit for time served since his arrest, Neveu has 95 days left to spend behind bars.

Once released, he will be bound by a probation order with terms requiring him to abide by a
10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew.

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A Kamloops-area rancher will spend 30 days on house arrest and won’t be allowed to drive for a year after a drunken crash on the Trans-Canada Highway and blood-alcohol readings described by a judge as “shocking.”

Ross Gabriel Timothy McNab, 59, pleaded guilty in Kamloops provincial court Tuesday to an impaired driving charge.

McNab was arrested following a T-bone crash on the Trans-Canada Highway near Savona on May 6. Court heard he subsequently blew blood-alcohol readings of .270 and .280 — more than three times the legal limit to drive.

“It’s frankly shocking,” Kamloops provincial court Judge Stephen Harrison said.

In addition to McNab’s 30-day conditional sentence order and one-year driving ban, Harrison levied a $1,000 fine and suggested he seek counselling for alcoholism.

“Those readings are alarming and suggest you may have a problem,” Harrison said. “I’ll leave that up to you.”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include the fact McNab was also fined $1,000.

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