K9 OFFICER SUED FOR ARREST A Vancouver Island man is suing an RCMP dog handler and provincial and federal governments for injuries he sustained during an arrest last year. David Alan Banford filed the lawsuit in September, naming Const. Joshua Grafton for the arrest on February 16, 2019 in Nanaimo. Banford had been charged with […]
20 MONTHS FOR WILD CHASE A Kelowna man who led police on a wild chase on the Okanagan Connector last year has been sentenced to 20 months in prison and two years of probation. Dean Peters, 45, was sentenced Thursday in Kelowna Supreme Court by Justice Trevor Armstrong, who accepted a joint submission, or plea deal, […]
A man who rammed multiple police cars during a wild chase on Highway 97C and through West Kelowna and Peachland is being offered a “generous” deal by Crown prosecutors in light of the pandemic. Dean Peters, 45, appeared Monday in Kelowna court after pleading guilty to multiple charges related to the chase on Nov. 16, […]
POLICE DOG NEARLY KILLED MAN A civil lawsuit has revealed the near-fatal injuries a Kelowna man suffered at the teeth of a police dog during an arrest this summer, an incident already being investigated by B.C.’s police watchdog. In a lawsuit filed Friday, Fernando Verde alleges he had to be resuscitated by staff at Kelowna General Hospital […]
A man suing a Kelowna Mountie over allegations of police brutality says he wrote an apology to the officer after the incident in response to the threat of prison and the high financial toll of taking the charges to trial. Cole Charles Vasko, 37, filed a civil lawsuit last week in B.C. Supreme Court claiming he was […]
UPDATE 5:35 p.m. The Southeast District Commander of the BC RCMP has released a statement in response to a third lawsuit filed this week alleging police brutality at the hands of a Kelowna RCMP officer Const. Lacey Browning. “While I appreciate and respect the Civil Court process, I am concerned that the information currently available […]
SUPPORTING MONA ACROSS BC Kelowna’s Stuart Park will be one of several protest sites Saturday afternoon, as people gather across the province to protest the treatment of Mona Wang at the hands of a Kelowna RCMP officer. In January of this year, Wang’s boyfriend called 911 over concerns about her mental health. Const. Lacey Browning arrived […]
‘IT WAS VERY DEGRADING’ The UBCO student behind a lawsuit alleging a Kelowna RCMP officer assaulted her during a wellness check is speaking publicly about the incident. Mona Wang is a nursing student training to become a psychiatric nurse and volunteers within the neuropsychiatry healthcare field. She tells Castanet RCMP were called to check on her health during […]
WELLNESS CHECK ENDS VIOLENTLY UPDATE 6 p.m. The RCMP says it will be responding to the surveillance footage officially through the civil proceedings. “We are committed to reviewing the materials and the allegations as it relates to the police officers actions to determine what other steps need to be taken,” said S/Sgt. Janelle Shoihet. The video […]
SUIT FILED OVER ROUGH ARREST The man at the centre of a violent arrest downtown Kelowna last month has filed a lawsuit over the incident, naming the officer caught on camera delivering several punches to his face while he was restrained. In a notice of civil claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court Wednesday, Tyler Russell […]
