The Penticton RCMP is pursuing additional charges against 36-year-old Jesse William Shawcross in the carjacking of several vehicles in September.
On Sept. 19, Shawcross allegedly flagged down two vehicles along Eastside Road in Penticton and threatened to use a firearm. One vehicle was stolen, and the victims, who were not physically harmed, called 911.
Five days later, Shawcross is believed to have stolen a truck from Oliver, RCMP said in a release about the events leading up to Shawcross’s arrest.
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Officers in Penticton observed the stolen truck near the 1000-block of Eckhardt Ave. West. The Targeted Enforcement Unit (TEU), along with other officers, converged into the area.
Officers located the truck in a nearby parking lot and confirmed the driver to be Shawcross.
Shawcross, seeing officers moving in, allegedly attempted to evade them by crashing through the parking lot, damaging several parked cars and ultimately causing the truck to be inoperable.
He then fled on foot, with officers giving chase across Eckhardt Avenue, where Shawcross resisted violently as several officers arrested him.
At the time of his arrest, the RCMP charged him with 11 offences but was not in a position at that time to lay additional charges directly linking him to the robberies.
Once Shawcross was in custody, the General Investigation Section was able to successfully gather more evidence linking him to those crimes.
On Dec. 30, an additional 13 charges were laid against Shawcross, including robbery with a firearm.
“Shawcross has remained in custody following his arrest on Sept. 24, however necessary evidence linking him to the carjacking was only recently confirmed,” said RCMP Const. James Grandy in a release on Dec. 31.
“Following a thorough investigation, our General Investigative Section submitted a detailed report to the BC Prosecution Service, recommending these additional charges against Shawcross,” said Grandy. Those include two charges of robbery with a firearm, theft of five vehicles, flight from police, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, resisting arrest, assault with a weapon, break and enter, uttering threats, driving while prohibited, possessing a controlled substance, possession of stolen property and failing to comply with a probation order.
Grandy said local RCMP officers took the safety of their communities into “paramount consideration” while using all available resources during their search for the accused.
“Right from the beginning, our members worked tirelessly to try and locate and bring this crime spree to a safe and accountable resolve,” he said. “These events employed a number of RCMP resources including the RCMP helicopter, police dog services, plainclothes and uniformed officers from several detachments within the South Okanagan.”
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