The Creston RCMP has one male in custody and is currently investigating the willful damage to a marked police vehicle, which occurred early Wednesday. The man is alleged to have attempted to set a marked police car ablaze.
On Wednesday September 21, 2016, at approximately 07:48 am, witnesses reported to the Creston RCMP that a male had just set a marked police car on fire, which was parked in the rear parking of Creston RCMP Detachment. It is alleged that the man was observed pouring something on the police car then threw a lit bottle which ignited when it struck the car. The man then drove away, with witnesses noting his vehicle description and licence plate as he departed.
One of the witnesses went to the front of the detachment to alert staff, who then exited to the rear parking lot and extinguished the flames. The police vehicle suffered damage to the rear area and trunk lid. Surrounding area police units were advised of the incident and provided with the vehicle description and licence plate. At that time, members of the RCMP East Kootenay Traffic Services were in the Creston area for an enforcement operation, and an officer spotted the suspect vehicle just South of Moyie. The suspect vehicle was stopped and the male suspect was arrested without incident.
The Creston Fire Department attended the detachment and examined the damaged police vehicle in order to provide supportive evidentiary observations of the damage and accelerants used. An RCMP ident member from Cranbrook attended and examined scene and police are awaiting a search warrant in order to fully examine the suspect vehicle.
