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UPDATE: 12:52 p.m.
A North Kamloops woman targeted in a bizarre home invasion on Tuesday says she still can’t believe what happened.
Police said they were called to a residence in the 600-block of Fortune Drive at about 7:45 p.m. for a report of a break-in followed by an assault — a beating that left the would-be burglar with serious injuries.
Castanet Kamloops has agreed not to name the woman targeted in the break-in because she fears for her safety. She said she lives in a basement suite and heard banging from the unit above her on Tuesday evening.
“I just thought, ‘OK, he’s breaking stuff, that’s fine,’ but then I start seeing my whole ceiling flexing,” she said of her upstairs neighbour.
“And before I know it he busted through my ceiling.”
She said the man began throwing tools through the hole, then pushed an auger through.
“A big, huge, sharp auger,” she said. “And then he dropped through my ceiling.”
The woman described a frenzied scene. She said the intruder landed on top of her 26-year-old son’s bike.
“He got tangled up but then he jumped up and came at us with the auger,” she said.
“I was trying to stay out of the way of this auger and my son is trying to push him away and get him out of the way, but he wouldn’t stop. My son wrestled with him to get that auger.”
The woman said she fled the suite. From outside, she could hear her son fighting with the man.
“I could hear him screaming, ‘Get out of my house, get out of my house,’” she said.
“I had called 911, and before the police got here my son had managed to drag this guy up the stairs and outside and was pushing him away.”
The woman said the intruder “just wouldn’t stay down.”
“He kept getting up and running at him and trying to come again and again to keep fighting,” she said.
“All the neighbours were out screaming and yelling, telling them to stop, telling him to stay down, to not move.”
According to the woman, the intruder ran when police showed up. She said he was arrested at gunpoint.
Mounties said the break-in suspect was taken to hospital for treatment of serious but non-life-threatening injuries while the assailant police referred to earlier — the woman's son — was arrested and released, pending the results of the RCMP investigation.
Police said they could not provide any further details about the incident.
The woman said the break-in has left her shaken.
“Who goes through a roof like that?” she said.
“The RCMP were blown away with it. They were standing under the hole looking at it with their flashlights like, ‘How did he do this?’”
The woman said she’s been in touch with her landlord, who promised “an immediate eviction” for the intruder and safety upgrades.
She said she had no real issues with her upstairs neighbour prior to the break-in. She said she didn’t get much rest on Tuesday night thanks to the hole in her ceiling.
“I got no sleep,” she said. “Every noise, I was scared he was coming back.”
The police investigation is ongoing.
UPDATE: 10:14 a.m.
It’s too early to say whether vigilantism is behind a beating Tuesday that landed a would-be burglar in hospital with serious injuries, according to police.
Mounties said they were called to a residential complex in the 600-block of Fortune Drive at about 7:45 p.m. for a report of a break-in followed by an assault.
RCMP Cpl. Crystal Evelyn said the altercation began “inside a residence” and moved outside. She said the break-in suspect was taken to hospital with serious injuries and the assault suspect was arrested and released, pending the outcome of the police investigation.
Castanet Kamloops asked Evelyn whether the altercation was a case of vigilantism.
“It’s too early to say that,” she said.
“The motive behind the assault and the role of the person in this situation is part of the investigation.”
Evelyn said the burglary suspect suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries. She said she could not say whether a weapon was used, because that is also part of the investigation.
The investigation is ongoing.
Do you know what happened? Email [email protected] or call the Castanet Kamloops newsroom at 778-376-2151.
ORIGINAL STORY: 9:11 a.m.
A would-be burglar suffered serious injuries Tuesday in a beating at a North Kamloops residential complex, police say.
According to Mounties, officers were called to an address in the 600-block of Fortune Drive at about 7:45 p.m. for a report of a break-and-enter followed by an assault.
“The physical altercation appears to have started inside a residence and worked its way outside,” RCMP Cpl. Crystal Evelyn said in a news release.
“The investigation is ongoing and includes collecting evidence related to the actions of both parties involved.”
Evelyn said the suspect was taken to hospital with serious injuries, believed to be non-life-threatening. She said the assault suspect was arrested and released with conditions and a court date, pending the outcome of the investigation.
Anyone with information about the incident can call police at 250-828-3000 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
