Two men, one from Oliver, face charges after they were tracked down by police dogs in Willowbrook on Tuesday.
On March 10 at 3:30 p.m., a towing company (Mike’s Auto) in Oliver called police after its employees interrupted two men attempting to break into the compound.
“When the employees confronted the pair, they rammed into one of their tow trucks before driving away,” said Cst. James Grandy.
One of the employees followed the suspects to the fire hall in Willowbrook, where their truck overheated and became inoperable. The suspects then fled on foot up a mountainside, at which time several police officers arrived, including two police dog service members.
Grandy said two separate police dog tracks were carried out, which resulted in both suspects being located and arrested. They are identified as Marcus Sheena from Oliver and Clayton Bone from Penticton.
Both were held in custody and appeared in court on March 11.
Charges were laid against the two for break and enter, breaching their probation orders, prohibited driving and hit and run.
Mike Wadman from Mike’s Auto said the incident was straight out of a movie.
He explained that everyone in the shop was working that day when a lady from Crime Watch informed him that something looked suspicious in the company’s secondary compound. She apparently confronted two men who told her they were planning to buy something. The lady didn’t believe them and reported the incident to company staff.
Wadman said two employees went out and confronted the suspects and closed them inside the compound. But the men rammed the gate and grazed one of the tow trucks during the escape.
Wadman said one of the employees followed the truck to the Willowbrook fire hall where it was abandoned. This was relayed to police who moved in and successfully tracked the suspects on foot.
Wadman said the RCMP did a great job coordinating the arrest.
