A stolen motorhome in the North Shuswap possibly related to an armed robbery there has been recovered.
Chase RCMP say that the Southwind motorhome reported stolen on March 19 from a pullout along the Squilax Anglemont Road has been located.
It was found about 65 kilometres to the northeast in remote Seymour Arm.
Last weekend, Chase RCMP received a report of two men with guns in the 1000 block of Skwlax Subdivision Road in Lee Creek.
Police were advised on March 17 about 6 p.m. that two men had stopped a silver Dodge Caravan and held the occupants at gunpoint while they took items from the van. The suspects then got into a grey SUV and fled at high speed. The occupants of the van returned to their vehicle and also took off before police arrived.
While enroute, Chase police were notified by another driver that they had been ‘pulled over’ on Squilax Anglemont Road by a grey SUV with flashing police lights. They were approached by a man in plainclothes carrying a gun. As he got closer, he told them he had the wrong vehicle, returned to his SUV and sped off.
Officers from the Chase, Salmon Arm and Kamloops detachments responded. Patrols of the area and neighbourhood inquiries were unsuccessful in locating the suspects or their victims.
Then, in the wee hours of March 18, Chase RCMP received a report of a vehicle fire in the 1600 block of Little Shuswap Road in Lee Creek. Police responded and found an SUV in flames. The burned vehicle matched the description of the one used in the robbery earlier in the evening and was sporting stolen licence plates.
Sgt. Barry Kennedy says the armed robbery appears to be targeted and likely drug related, although police don’t know yet what was taken from the second vehicle.
“When the other vehicle got stopped by this fake police car, they said right away, ‘wrong vehicle.’
It hasn’t been determined yet if the theft of the motorhome is related to the March 17 armed robbery.
Anyone who may have information related to the March 17 incident is asked to contact Chase RCMP at 250-679-3221 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
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