Crime

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Parksville Qualicum Beach crime report: Crooks hit businesses, vehicles

Oceanside RCMP received 288 complaints in one-week period

 

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Crime report: Crooks target Parksville businesses, vehicles in Nanoose Bay

Oceanside RCMP received 257 complaints in one-week period.

 

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2019 crime spike in B.C. largest in 20 years; RCMP say it’s partly due to changes in stat organizing

Criminal incidents increased in 18 per cent across the province last year

 

Aisha Strange lives with severe brain damage and other injuries after she was struck at an intersection by impaired driver Drake Reynes. Strange can no longer walk, talk or eat and is often in pain as a result of her injuries. (GoFundMe) Aisha Strange, 20, lives with severe brain damage and other injuries after she was struck at an intersection by impaired driver Drake Reynes. (GoFundMe)

Man vows to never drive impaired again after hit-and-run severely injures B.C. woman

Aisha Strange, then 20, was struck while stopped at an intersection on her scooter

Aisha Strange lives with severe brain damage and other injuries after she was struck at an intersection by impaired driver Drake Reynes. Strange can no longer walk, talk or eat and is often in pain as a result of her injuries. (GoFundMe) Aisha Strange, 20, lives with severe brain damage and other injuries after she was struck at an intersection by impaired driver Drake Reynes. (GoFundMe)
Adam Laboucan, pictured being escorted outside court in B.C. on June 18, 1999, was 17 when he was handed an indeterminate prison sentence for sexually assaulting a three-month-old boy in Quesnel. Laboucan now identifies as female and has changed her name to Tara Desousa. (Ross Mitchell/Quesnel Cariboo Observer)

Canada’s youngest dangerous offender from B.C. denied parole; to be reviewed in 2021

Tara Desousa, then named Adam Laboucan, was 15 years old when she assaulted an infant in Quesnel

Adam Laboucan, pictured being escorted outside court in B.C. on June 18, 1999, was 17 when he was handed an indeterminate prison sentence for sexually assaulting a three-month-old boy in Quesnel. Laboucan now identifies as female and has changed her name to Tara Desousa. (Ross Mitchell/Quesnel Cariboo Observer)
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RCMP: Suspect arrested after man threatened with gun in Parksville

Confrontation took place on job site

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The six-week trial of RCMP officer Jason Tait was held in Nelson at the Capitol Theatre because the courthouse could not accommodate a jury under COVID-19 restrictions. File photo

UPDATED: Nelson jury finds RCMP officer Jason Tait not guilty of manslaughter

The decision came on Nov. 6 after a five-hour deliberation

The six-week trial of RCMP officer Jason Tait was held in Nelson at the Capitol Theatre because the courthouse could not accommodate a jury under COVID-19 restrictions. File photo
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Crime report: Scofflaws remove concrete barriers from Highway 19 in Qualicum Beach

Crooks pilfer election signs, carpet cleaning machines and more in busy week for RCMP

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Commissioner Austin Cullen, back centre, listens to introductions before opening statements at the Cullen Commission of Inquiry into Money Laundering in British Columbia, in Vancouver, on Monday, February 24, 2020. A former RCMP officer described by his lawyer as a whistleblower for investigating organized crime in casinos is scheduled to testify today at an inquiry into money laundering in British Columbia. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Inquiry hears players stayed away from B.C. casinos after organized-crime arrests

B.C. launched inquiry after reports illegal cash was helping fuel real estate, luxury car and gambling

Commissioner Austin Cullen, back centre, listens to introductions before opening statements at the Cullen Commission of Inquiry into Money Laundering in British Columbia, in Vancouver, on Monday, February 24, 2020. A former RCMP officer described by his lawyer as a whistleblower for investigating organized crime in casinos is scheduled to testify today at an inquiry into money laundering in British Columbia. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Dr. Richard Stanwick, Island Health chief medical officer, speaks from the Victoria police headquarters on Nov. 5. (Nina Grossman/News Staff)

Victoria police seize fentanyl potent enough to kill more than half of Vancouver Island

Extreme concentrations a troublesome development in the ongoing opioid crisis: health officer

Dr. Richard Stanwick, Island Health chief medical officer, speaks from the Victoria police headquarters on Nov. 5. (Nina Grossman/News Staff)
Images released by police in Ontario in March 2018 show the three men who assaulted a man with autism: (from left) Ronjot Dhami, Parmvir Chahil and Jaspaul Uppal.

Two Lower Mainland men sentenced for attack in Ontario of man with autism

Parmvir Chahil and Jaspaul Uppal receive 9 months; Ronjot Dhami previously sentenced

Images released by police in Ontario in March 2018 show the three men who assaulted a man with autism: (from left) Ronjot Dhami, Parmvir Chahil and Jaspaul Uppal.
Davis Wolfgang Hawke was found dead in a burnt-out SUV in Squamish, B.C., on June 14, 2017. Police said his death was a homicide. (IHIT)

Father of man found dead 3 years ago in Squamish offers $10,000 for information on death

Davis Wolfgang Hawke had been a Neo-Nazi turned renegade internet spammer

Davis Wolfgang Hawke was found dead in a burnt-out SUV in Squamish, B.C., on June 14, 2017. Police said his death was a homicide. (IHIT)
Police service dog Herc helped RCMP locate and arrest suspects in the Ladysmith area on Oct. 23, 2020, related to a stolen vehicle. (Submitted)

RCMP nab prolific property offender in Ladysmith with assist from police dog Herc

Police attempted to stop the vehicle but it fled from the area towards Chemainus.

Police service dog Herc helped RCMP locate and arrest suspects in the Ladysmith area on Oct. 23, 2020, related to a stolen vehicle. (Submitted)
CBSA. (Black Press Media File)

4 sentenced in B.C. steroid smuggling, distribution ring that spilled into U.S.

Canadian Border Services Agency announced the results of a lengthy investigation it called ‘Project Trajectory’

CBSA. (Black Press Media File)
Hirdeypal Batth, 24, has been charged with sexual assault and forcible confinement in relation to an incident in August 2020. (VPD handout)

Man, 24, charged with sex assault after allegedly posing as Uber driver in Vancouver

Investigators believe there could be more victims outside of the Vancouver area

Hirdeypal Batth, 24, has been charged with sexual assault and forcible confinement in relation to an incident in August 2020. (VPD handout)
Sen. Kim Pate is shown in Toronto in an October 15, 2013, file photo. The parliamentary budget office says a proposed law that would give judges discretion on whether to apply a lesser sentence for murder could save the federal government $8.3 million per year. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Colin Perkel

Judicial discretion for mandatory minimum sentences for murder would save $8.3M: PBO

The result would be fewer people in long-term custody at federal correctional institutions, experts say

Sen. Kim Pate is shown in Toronto in an October 15, 2013, file photo. The parliamentary budget office says a proposed law that would give judges discretion on whether to apply a lesser sentence for murder could save the federal government $8.3 million per year. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Colin Perkel
Chief Financial Officer of Huawei, Meng Wanzhou leaves her home in Vancouver, Wednesday, October 28, 2020. Wanzhou is heading to the British Columbia Supreme Court in an evidentiary hearing on her extradition case on abuse of process argument. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

‘It has to be dealt with’: Border officer says examination of Meng was necessary

Scott Kirkland told the B.C. Supreme Court Wednesday that collecting the phone passcodes is routine

Chief Financial Officer of Huawei, Meng Wanzhou leaves her home in Vancouver, Wednesday, October 28, 2020. Wanzhou is heading to the British Columbia Supreme Court in an evidentiary hearing on her extradition case on abuse of process argument. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
An arrest warrant has been issued for Brian Thomas, of Nanaimo, who is accused of throwing a “spear-like object” at a vehicle. (Photo submitted)

Warrant out for Nanaimo man who allegedly threw ‘spear-like object’ at vehicle

Brian Thomas failed to make court appearance, say RCMP

An arrest warrant has been issued for Brian Thomas, of Nanaimo, who is accused of throwing a “spear-like object” at a vehicle. (Photo submitted)
FILE - In this Tuesday, May 7, 2019, file courtroom drawing, defendant Keith Raniere, center, leader of the secretive group NXIVM, is seated between his attorneys Paul DerOhannesian, left, and Marc Agnifilo during the first day of his sex trafficking trial. Raniere, a self-improvement guru whose organization NXIVM attracted millionaires and actresses among its adherents, faces sentencing Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020, on convictions that he turned some female followers into sex slaves branded with his initials. (Elizabeth Williams via AP, File)

NXIVM guru gets 120 years in prison in sex-slaves case

Keith Raniere was called ‘ruthless and unyielding’ in crimes that were ‘particularly egregious’

FILE - In this Tuesday, May 7, 2019, file courtroom drawing, defendant Keith Raniere, center, leader of the secretive group NXIVM, is seated between his attorneys Paul DerOhannesian, left, and Marc Agnifilo during the first day of his sex trafficking trial. Raniere, a self-improvement guru whose organization NXIVM attracted millionaires and actresses among its adherents, faces sentencing Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020, on convictions that he turned some female followers into sex slaves branded with his initials. (Elizabeth Williams via AP, File)
Ridge Meadows RCMP (Black Press)

Maple Ridge X-ray tech convicted of sexual assault dating back 30 years

Allen James Brooks is expected to be sentenced in January 2021

Ridge Meadows RCMP (Black Press)