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For hours, the RCMP surrounded a Dilworth Mountain home, urging a break-in suspect to surrender, but ultimately he was brought into custody by heavily armed members of the Emergency Response Team. Spokesperson Jesse O'Donaghey said members tried everything they could to get the man to come out willingly.
The initial call to police was described as a break-in. It happened on Monashee Place Once on scene, some regular duty RCMP members entered the home and were confronted a suspect who they believed may have been armed. "Once inside they encountered an individual who appeared very distraught," said O'Donaghey, "and for certain reasons, they backed out of the home."
That's when the neighbourhood was evacuated.
For one area resident, the police knocking on their door at 5:00 a.m. didn't come as a complete surprise. "The neighbour phoned us earlier," the man told KelownaNow, "and told us that there was a guy running around with no shirt on making lots of noise, screaming and stuff." The man said the instructions were very clear. "'Get your coat on and get out of here,' were the words the man recalled.
The homeowners were away when the incident began, so the house was vacant. After hours of RCMP attempts to encourage the man to come out of the home with a bullhorn, a series of loud bangs were deployed by the police, presumably to increase the pressure on the suspect to surrender.
Ultimately, the decision was made to take the man into custody by force. Another area resident who asked not to be identified described watching a few members of the heavily armed tactical team entering the home flanked by a service dog. Five or 10 minutes later they emerged with the suspect in handcuffs. "There were a number of efforts made to negotiate with the male and have him exit the home peacefully," said O'Donaghey, "but unfortunately, in the end, our emergency response team supported with the police dog service section had to make entry into the home in order to take this individual into custody." There's no word on any weapons recovered.
Neighbours were allowed to return home immediately after the arrest.
After the incident, the glass rear door on the lower floor of the home was a shattered mess.
The suspect has been described as a 39-year-old Kelowna resident. He faces what the RCMP described as "a number of potential criminal charges". Why he chose to smash his way into that home and why he refused to comply with the police are not known.
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