Kamloops City Councilor tussles with B&E suspect

Sep 19, 2018 | 3:51 PM

KAMLOOPS — City councilors often say they want to address the issue of crime in the community, but they don’t often capture criminals on their own properties. 

Kamloops Councilor Denis Walsh says was on his way out the door of his downtown home this morning when he saw something unusual. 

“I noticed that the door to the bicycle shed was open. I thought maybe we perhaps forgot it. But then I looked and there was someone in there at the very back of the shed.”

The man inside is alleged to have broken the lock to gain access to the shed, and appeared to be in the process of dismantling a bicycle. 

Walsh says he called out to his wife to phone police while he attempted to keep the man from leaving. 

“I stopped him from leaving the shed, and we had a little tussle, and I had to hold him in a headlock until the police came,” Walsh said. 

RCMP advise people to call the police and never engage with someone they suspect is committing a crime. 

Walsh says he felt confident that he was safe. 

“I was prepared that if he had a weapon I would have let him go, but at the time it didn’t look like he was very aggressive and he was around 5’8″, smaller than me,” Walsh said. “I just felt that I should hold him so that he wouldn’t go on to somebody else’s house.”

RCMP arrived on scene within 5-10 minutes, and apprehended the suspect. Walsh says he will press charges, noting crime in the area appears to be increasingly more brazen.

“It used to be in the dead of night; cover of night, cover of darkness,” he said. “But now it’s wide open and there’s a lot of activity around here at 8:30 in the morning.”

Walsh has already purchased a new latch and lock for his bicycle shed and is considering installing a security alarm. 

“I believe people need to be more vigilant keeping things locked up and being aware of who’s in their yard and what’s happening around them.”