Suspects arrested in violent break in and robbery

Two suspects wanted in connection with a violent residential break-in and robbery in Salmon Arm have been arrested in Princeton.

Men aged 44 and 46 from Kelowna and Nanaimo are in custody and facing facing potential charges after being arrested Thursday (July 2) after a suspicious persons report.

“Princeton RCMP responded to a suspicious person report from a local Blackmine Road resident, who had a strange encounter with a man he believed was casing the area. The complainant followed the suspicious male, who met up with a second man, and the pair were surrounded by a group of local residents when front line officers arrived on scene,” said Jesse O’Donaghey from the RCMP’s South East District.

Officers performed checks of nearby homes along Blackmine Road and located a residence that showed signs of forced entry and believed it to be the scene of a break and enter.

The men are suspects in an incident on the morning of June 29 where two men, one with a knife, forced their way into a Salmon Arm home on 30 Street SW, and threatened the two residents..

“Once inside the suspects searched the house and allegedly took cash, debit bank cards, a lap top computer, a tablet and keys to the homeowner’s red Ford Taurus,” stated S/Sgt. Scott West, Detachment Commander for the Salmon Arm RCMP. “The residents provided access pin codes to the armed suspects after being threatened.”

The victims were bound and the suspects fled the home. The victims managed to free themselves and flee to a neighbouring residence where they called for emergency assistance.

RCMP in a neighbouring jurisdiction later recovered the stolen Ford Taurus.