Off-duty WKTS officer nabs suspect wanted Canada-wide
By Boundary Sentinel
An off-duty officer’s awareness led to the arrest of a man wanted Canada-wide for parole violations said Sergeant Chad Badry in a RCMP media release Monday.
The man, a suspect in an arson at a Kamloops Hotel, was arrested without incident in Grand Forks Sunday after the officer, on her way to work, spotted a person fitting the description of the suspect walking down the street.
“This was an excellent example of officer awareness that resulted in the peaceful arrest of a dangerous and wanted individual,” said Acting Inspector Chad Badry, Commander of West Kootenay Traffic Services (WKTS).
Badry added Traffic Services officers live and work in communities across BC and Canada and may often be aware of wanted individuals in their jurisdiction.
Just because we are not on shift doesn’t mean we turn off the radar,” said Badry.
The chain of events started Thursday, January 30 in Kamloops when RCMP responded to the hotel arson.
RCMP said a man was identified as well as the suspect’s vehicle — a black Dodge pickup with Alberta licence plates — and released to the public.
However, the suspect or vehicle were not immediately located until Sunday, February 9, when Kelowna RCMP received a driving complaint involving a black Dodge pickup truck with Alberta licence plates.
Police said the vehicle was located, however, the driver fled when police attempted to stop the suspect.
It was at that time, when police learned the vehicle was registered to a man wanted Canada-wide for parole violations.
Police said later Sunday, RCMP in Greenwood received a driving complaint involving the same black Dodge pickup and, with the assistance of Midway and Grand Forks RCMP, located the pickup abandoned in Grand Forks with no sign of its driver.
All police officers in the Grand Forks area were alerted to be on the lookout for the suspect driver.
Police said one of the officers who heard the call to be on the lookout for the suspect was Cst. Wolfram of the WKTS.
Cst. Wolfram was on the way to work Sunday when she noted a person fitting the suspect’s description walking down a street in Grand Forks.
She immediately called for assistance from another officer from her Unit and the pair stopped the suspect to ask him for identification.
“When we called the suspect by name, he asked why police asked for identification if they already knew who he was,” said Cst. Wolfram of WKTS.
The man was arrested without incident and transported a short distance to the Grand Forks RCMP Detachment and held for court on numerous outstanding charges and parole violations.
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