RCMP: Dog victorious in dog-vs-truck-thief altercation; numerous impaired violations
Castlegar RCMP have laid several charges against a Trail man after an incident that occurred in the early morning hours of July 12.
At approximately 3 a.m, Trail RCMP received a report of a truck that had just been stolen from the Tech Metals parking lot. The vehicle was spotted by two Castlegar officers, and when they activated their emergency equipment in an effort to stop the truck, the driver proceeded into a residential area, where he crashed the truck and fled on foot. While officers were searching the area and waiting for the police dog to arrive, an alert citizen noted a suspicious looking male running, and another citizen awoke because his dog was barking. Officers attended that residence to learn that the citizen’s truck had just been stolen from his driveway. While speaking with the owner, a truck could be heard on the Bombi summit, and it sounded like the stolen truck. Officers, along with a police dog handler, attended the Bombi summit and spotted the stolen truck on the side of the road. One of the officers then saw a male matching the description provided earlier dart into the bushes. After a short search, police dog “Riggs” located the male hiding in the bushes. After a brief struggle, (in which the dog won) the male was taken into custody. Twenty-four-year year old John Beacuchemin is facing charges of : two counts of theft over $5,000 for the trucks, as well as flight from police. He was held in police custody and appeared before the courts on July 13, where he was subsequently released from Nelson court on $10,000 bail. In other police news, Castlegar RCMP officers along with West Kootenay Traffic services were kept busy this past weekend while conducting several road checks in various locations in Castlegar. Over the course of Friday and Saturday nights, numerous charges were laid including: six Impaired driving charges;
17 24-hour suspensions, and;
two 12-hour suspensions. There were also numerous violation tickets issued for a variety of offences, and two drug seizures. RCMP are reminding everyone that this type enforcement will be visible all summer long, and that boat launches, beaches, and parks will be visited and laws enforced.