Clearwater RCMP responded to 25 calls for service this past week including a vehicle rollover and an alleged stolen truck from Kamloops which remains under investigation, said Sgt. Grant Simpson, detachment commander of the Clearwater RCMP.
On Thursday, Feb 29, 2024, at 8:42 a.m. the BC Ambulance Service contacted the Clearwater RCMP requesting they attend a collision on Clearwater Valley Road.
The driver was taken to hospital for precautionary reasons. Simpson said the vehicle had good tires with plenty of tread, however, the roads were snow-covered and slushy when the vehicle went off-road and rolled.
On March 3, 2024, at 2:37 p.m. a BC Hydro foreman reported a broken power pole near 680 Clearwater Village Road. The complainant advised it appeared a car backed into the pole breaking it off. No suspects, no witnesses.
“The complainant said he thought perhaps someone had reported the accident. It is believed that it occurred sometime overnight,” said Simpson. The complainant was provided the police file number, and no further police action was required.
On Sunday March 3, 2024, at 4:30 a.m. Const. Klassen and Cpl. Schneider began conducting a road check on Highway 5 at Highway 24 in Little Fort when a female known to police came through from the south and was detained for Motor Vehicle Act (MVA) compliance, said police.
Simpson said while she was detained, a pickup truck came through the checkpoint from the south and failed to stop fleeing at a high rate of speed going north on Highway 5. The driver of the vehicle was believed to be connected to the woman detained at the road check, he said.
Simpson noted that Const. Klassen later found the same truck abandoned in the backyard of a residence, with the engine still hot. The B.C. license plate came back registered to a 39-year-old Kamloops man.
Simpson said Const. Klassen spoke to the registered owner of the pickup on the phone and advised him that it would be towed by a local tow company and was releasable to him.
The owner of the pickup told police he didn’t know who was driving the truck.
Simpson said while the truck was being towed, the property owner, the originally detained female and her partner all showed up “trying to intimidate police and the tow truck drivers, getting in their way and being confrontational.”
The pickup was towed, and the suspected driver was waiting at the tow yard, however, police towed the vehicle to the RCMP detachment instead to avoid any further interaction with the suspected driver and his partner (the detained female) and to ensure they didn’t attempt to steal it.
“The vehicle was searched, and the member located a 9 mm pistol magazine with several rounds in it, a clown mask, zip ties, duct tape, hydrogen peroxide, identification for a Kamloops male, a drone, a trail camera, an axe, and a police style flashing light,” said Simpson, noting the truck owner was made aware of where his truck was.
The investigation is ongoing, said police.
