Residents of Westshore Estates on Westside Road are outraged after they claim it took RCMP more than two hours to respond to a 911 call.
Gord Ross says the trouble started last Friday when a party in the neighbourhood got out of control.
“There were some people having a party on a lot that is being developed and I believe the man who owns the lot lives there in a trailer,” he said. “That man was attacked in a fight which broke out in the street.”
The fight apparently escalated to people allegedly tying a rope to an old collectors pick-up and trying to tow it down the street and over a cliff at the end of the road.
“In their state, they apparently couldn’t manoeuvre the curve in the road and this stolen pickup smashed into two cars in a person’s driveway,” explained Ross.
During the chaos, an engine block that was in the bed of the collector’s truck flew out of the vehicle and onto the street.
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Ross says he called 911 and knows of at least one other neighbour who called 911 as they heard the violence unfolding outside.
“I asked for the City of Vernon when I called 911, and I know we are about 30 minutes away from the police station in town, but it took about two and half hours for the police to arrive,” he said
Ross is furious that no one from the station called him back to say there would be a long wait for police help, as he and his neighbours continued to watch the incident unfold.
The 911 call was claimed to be made about 10:45 p.m. and Ross believes RCMP arrived after 1 a.m.
“The police who showed up said they were from Enderby and that Vernon police couldn’t come because they were dealing with a robbery,” he stated.
According to Ross the police deescalated the incident but did not call for a tow truck for the smashed vehicles in the driveway or the collector’s truck left in the road, and the engine block was not cleared from the street.
“I called back to complain that the officers had left debris all of the road and didn’t even bother to clean up the engine block that was a serious hazard,” he said. “About 20 hours later they sent someone to clean up the mess.”
Ross says there are many seniors who live in the area and residents were left feeling unsafe and unprotected by the whole ordeal.
“This is just not acceptable,” he exclaimed. “In the two hours it took the police to show up this (incident) could have ended up escalating in that time to people being hurt and lots more damage.”
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The damaged vehicles still litter the area almost a week after the incident and the homeowner who had two vehicles smashed last Friday, told Ross they have had no help from the police on the matter.
“Another issue is that the community has learned they are not properly protected by police,” said Ross.
Calls to the RCMP were not responded to by the time of publication.
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