Times Chronicle Staff
A court hearing of the alleged shooting of deer in an Oliver neighbourhood last year has been adjourned.
The case was scheduled for April 28 in Penticton court but was adjourned due to “other matters” that will be adjudicated in the near future. The Crown agreed to the adjournment. Another hearing date will be fixed after June 22.
The court docket on April 28 listed Ernest Harry Krochak as the accused who is facing an application to have his firearms forfeited.
In September of 2021, a 78-year-old Oliver man was charged for illegally shooting a deer in a residential neighbourhood.
Police were called to Morningstar Road for a report of a deer being shot. Krochak, who is known to police, was taken into custody and a number of firearms were seized from his residence.
Oliver RCMP Sgt. Don Wrigglesworth said police were pursuing a firearms prohibition in this case.
Krochak has been embroiled in a hostile fued with some of his neighbours for several years. In 2018 a judge gave him 10 months to prove he could keep the peace with the neighbourhood, warning him not to cause any further mischief or disturbances.
At one point a group of neighbours approached the Town of Oliver to complain about his harassment. In defence, Krochak said his neighbours were the ones harassing him.
One neighbour told the Times Chronicle that he heard gunshots when two young deer were hit with small calibre bullets.
The neighbour said he saw one deer flopping on the ground while another ran off with a leg wound. He then called 911 and the police arrived and euthanized one deer.
“It was just a really heart-wrenching thing to see,” the neighbour said. “You just don’t do that to animals; it was cruelty beyond measure.”
The resident said this incident is worrisome because it happened in broad daylight when a firearm was discharged in the direction of nearby homes.
