Submitted by  Sgt. Darren Kakuno
Detachment Commander
Columbia Valley RCMP

This past week Feb. 15 through Feb. 21, the Columbia Valley RCMP responded to 63 calls for service. The following is a summary of some of the files our officers responded to.

•On Thursday, Feb. 18, at about 5 a.m., emergency crews responded to a single vehicle collision on Highway 93/95 near Canal Flats. The driver of a northbound GMC pickup failed to negotiate a curve in the highway, drove into a ditch, and then back up onto the roadway and into the opposite side ditch. The driver and an adult passenger were transported by ambulance to a hospital to be assessed for non-life threatening injuries. 

•On Thursday, Feb. 18, Columbia Valley RCMP received a report of damage to a building at the Red Streak campground near Radium Hot Springs. An officer and Park Warden attended the campground and confirmed some electronic equipment was missing from the damaged building. The Park Warden conducted a search of the immediate area and located an occupied Ford Escape with what was believed to be stolen property visible in the car. Two adult males and an adult female were arrested for break and enter and possession of stolen property and released on Appearance Notices to attend court at a later date. 

•On Saturday, Feb. 21 at 6 p.m., an officer conducted a traffic stop with a Chrysler Intrepid on Highway 93/95 near Invermere. The driver, who was unable to produce a driver’s license, failed to comply with a roadside breath demand and was subsequently arrested for refusing to provide a breath sample. Checks of the license plate revealed the plate was attached to the wrong vehicle and the vehicle had no insurance. The driver was issued a 90-day Immediate Roadside Prohibition, a violation ticket for no driver’s license, no insurance and wrong number plate and released on an Appearance Notice to attend court at a later date. 

•On Saturday, Feb. 21, at about 8:20 p.m., an officer conducted a traffic stop with a Dodge pickup on Kootenay # 3 Road in Windermere. The driver was only able to produce a photocopy of a B.C. ID card. The driver and vehicle’s checks revealed the driver did not have a valid driver’s license and the truck did not have insurance. The driver was issued a violation ticket for no driver’s license, no insurance and wrong number plate.