Nelson Mayor pleased local police got robbery suspects off the streets
By Colin Payne
In his nearly 40 years in Nelson, Mayor John Dooley can recall only a few times when events like the recent robberies and bomb threat have happened in the Queen City – but he’s glad to see that local police know how to handle things when they do.
“I can only remember a handful of times when something like this has happened,” Dooley said. “It’s important to realize that this isn’t an every day occurrence.
“Anyone dumb enough to go down this road is going to get caught . . . We have an excellent police force here and we will eventually catch them and prosecute them.”
The comments refer to the recent bomb threat at the Nelson Courthouse on April 29 and the two recent armed robberies in broad daylight at the Kootenay Exchange on April 11 and again on April 25 at the Nelson and District Credit Union (NDCU).
The Nelson Police Department was able to apprehend the two suspects in the NDCU robbery following a high-speed car chase shortly after the heist was committed.
Andrew Stevenson, 34, is facing 15 charges while Krista Kalmikoff, 25, is facing 10, according to Deputy Regional Crown Counsel following two appearances at the Nelson Courthouse earlier this week.
Because robberies and bomb threats are such rare occurrences in the area, Dooley said crimes like these are difficult to prevent, and are something to which local police can only react.
“We prevent a lot of crime as well,” he noted. “But having said that, we won’t prevent all of them. But when you look at what happened in Nelson over the past couple of weeks (with local police investigations) it led to us capturing them.”
While clearly upset about what happened, Dooley said he’s pleased with the work of local police and the end result.
“If you come to Nelson and harm out community, our police force will track you down and make sure people who commit crimes in our community are held to account,” he said.
“The same people who do these damages and traumatize our community, we will capture and prosecute them.”
No one from the Nelson Police Department was available for comment as the The Independent Investigations Office is looking into the arrest of the two robbey suspects.
Bomb threat still under investigation
While the bomb threat at the courthouse on Monday turned out to be a hoax, the NPD is currently seeking public assistance in finding the person or persons responsible for the incident.
NPD Sergeant Paul Bayes is heading up the investigation into the bomb threat and says police take events like this very seriously.
“The investigation is ongoing as to who made the threat and put the package at the courthouse,” Sgt. Bayes said.
The threat saw police evacuate both the Nelson Courthouse and the adjacent City Hall building and surround the provincial facility with members, police reserves and firefighters from Nelson Fire Department.
Kootenay Insurance Services and the NDCU, both located across the street from the Nelson Courthouse, were later evacuated.
Members from the RCMP Bomb Squad were flown in from Vancouver to disarm the package.
“Ninety-nine percent of people in this town are good, decent people who wouldn’t put people at risk and make these threats,” Sgt. Bayes said.
“But we have to take every one seriously.
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