A Midway man who was allegedly breaching his court-ordered curfew remains in police custody after he fled on foot from a traffic stop and resisted arrest Wednesday afternoon.
On Jan. 6 shortly after 2 p.m., a Kelowna RCMP officer in a marked police vehicle conducted a traffic stop with a black Mercedes SUV in the 2300 block of Hunter Road, reported Cst. Jesse O’Donaghey, Kelowna RCMP Media Relations, in a press release last week.
The driver of the Mercedes was identified and found to be in breach of his court-ordered, 24-hour-a-day curfew related to a Conditional Sentence Order (CSO).
When confronted by the officer and advised he was under arrest he forced open his door, grabbed a duffle bag from passenger seat and fled on foot. The officer pursued the suspect on foot and with the assistance of bystanders, was able to place him in handcuffs.
It is alleged that during his arrest the suspect kicked at the officer and grabbed at her use of force tools. The officer sustained minor injuries and continues to be on full duty, O’Donaghey said.
An examination of the duffle bag the suspect fled with yielded over 360 grams of illicit drugs including cocaine, heroin and crystal meth, along with a loaded .22 calibre hand gun with extra magazines, a hunting knife, a silicone mask, a silencer, break-in tools and over $2,200 in cash.
Police later executed a search warrant on the suspect’s vehicle, which yielded an assault rifle, a drum magazine, soft body armour and a sledge hammer.
“The Kelowna RCMP would like to extend a sincere thank-you to those bystanders who jumped into action to assist and protect the officer from potentially serious bodily harm during this alleged assault,” O’Donaghey said.
As a result, the 29-year-old Midway man remains in custody and faces additional charges including: breach of a Conditional Sentence Order (CSO); assault a police officer; resist arrest; possession of a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking; possession of a controlled substance; flight from a police officer; possession of a prohibited weapon; and, possession of a firearm for a dangerous purpose.
The suspect remains in custody. He is expected to appear before a Judicial Justice of the Peace.
