Kelowna RCMP have just issued a press release on the incident.

They say a 30-year-old Penticton man was arrested for mischief after a window of the Kelowna RCMP detachment was broken.

Police say the man had fled on foot and refused to stop when confronted by police. He was then taken to the ground after he wrapped a studded belt around his fist and refused to comply with directions.

Once under control, the man complained of breathing difficulties and was transported to KGH, but was quickly released back to police. He is to be released from custody under a promise to appear in court at a later date.

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One man is in custody following an incident that played out in the middle of Ellis Street just after 10 a.m. this morning.

At least half a dozen officers, along with fire and ambulance converged on the scene in front of the TD Canada Trust building at the corner of Ellis St. and Leon Ave.

The suspect was restrained with handcuffs and placed on his stomach in the slushy street for over five minutes before he was taken to a waiting ambulance.

He could be heard breathing loudly and making noises that could be attributed to anxiety or a panic attack -- officers were overheard telling the man to stabilize his breathing.

RCMP at the scene refused to comment on who the man is or why he was being arrested.

According to one witness, the man had approached him on Saturday night asking where he could purchase drugs, before being arrested later that same night by Kelowna RCMP.  When the witness ran into the man again this morning just after his release, he appeared to be angry.

“He claimed he had four grand and he got released with eighteen (hundred dollars), so he freaked out,” says the witness, who did not want to use his name.

“He got his money stolen from him, he got angry and booted the window out (at the police detachment) and then I was walking with him towards Queensway and he told me (the police) stole – he had eighteen hundred (dollars) left – and they stole from him.”

The witness went on to say officers responded poorly, given the situation.

“I watched him do it (kick the window) and then I walked with him – I didn’t know what he did, but he explained it to me – we made it from the police station all the way down to Queensway before he even had to run.

“And the cops were just slowly walking after him… and not calling out to him.”

The witness also says he was told the man had been tasered at the scene, but that has not been confirmed. 

A window at the police station is visibly splintered but still intact.

 

Photo: Ragnar Haagen

Photo: Ragnar Haagen

Photo: Ragnar Haagen

Photo: Ragnar Haagen

Photo: Ragnar Haagen

Photo: Ragnar Haagen

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