Two men with guns, a robbery using fake flashing police lights and, later, a burnt vehicle.
These are details connected to an incident that three Shuswap police departments responded to on Saturday, March 17.
Chase RCMP Sgt. Barry Kennedy reports that at about 6 p.m., police were called to the 1000 block of Squilax Subdivision Road near Lee Creek for a report of two men with guns. They were said to have stopped another vehicle and were taking items from it while holding the occupants at gunpoint.
The suspects then entered their car, described as a grey Mazda, and fled at high speed. The occupants of the victim vehicle then sped off in their vehicle, described as a silver Dodge Caravan.
While enroute, Chase police were notified by another driver that they had been 鈥榩ulled over鈥� on Squilax Anglemont Road by a grey Mazda with flashing police lights. They were approached by a man in plainclothes carrying a gun. As he got closer, he told them he had the wrong vehicle, returned to his and sped off.
Officers from Chase, Salmon Arm and Kamloops responded in an attempt to secure the area and locate the suspect vehicle. Patrols and neighbourhood inquiries to try to locate both vehicles were not successful.
Later that night, Kennedy reports, Chase RCMP were called to the 1600 block of Little Shuswap Road near Lee Creek for a report of a vehicle on fire. Police responded and located the completely burnt-out vehicle, which appeared to be a grey Mitsubishi, similar to the suspect vehicle described in the earlier robbery. The vehicle, which has been secured by police, was bearing a stolen licence plate.
In a possibly related incident, on March 19 Chase RCMP received a report that a motorhome had been stolen from a pullout along the Squilax Anglemont Road.
Kennedy says it鈥檚 unclear if this theft is related to the March 17 robbery but police request that if you see this vehicle, do not approach it and contact police.
Anyone who may have information related to the motorhome theft or the March 17 incident is asked to contact Chase RCMP at 250-679-3221 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
martha.wickett@saobserver.net
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