Officers from seven police vehicles arrested a man at the Esso in the 3600 block of Highway 97 North Monday afternoon.
But not for reasons they originally intended.
“We responded to a complaint where it was a possible robbery in progress where a (man) was going into the store with a bandana on his face,” said Const. Dave Gauthier.
“When we got on scene, we talked to everybody that was here and quickly realized that the fella just had issues with his face.”
Two men were handcuffed and put into police vehicles while Mounties investigated the scene.
According to Gauthier, Mounties recovered a small amount of an illicit chemical on one of the men; therefore, he was arrested. The other man was expected to be released without charge.
The man who entered the gas station was wearing baggy clothing and Gauthier suggested that might have led to heightened suspicion.
“Because of the way he was dressed and whatnot made it a bit more suspicious—not that we profile or anything like that, but to the complainant, it seemed a little odd and suspicious.
“It basically turned out to be a high priority call, which ended up being a misunderstanding.
“Due to the fact we responded the way we did, things were located. Those are being dealt with accordingly.”
wpaterson@kelownacapnews.com
