Salmon Arm Crime Chronicles

Salmon Arm RCMP May 29 to June 11 2024, Calls for service: 316

May 31

Skimikin Lake Rd: At 1pm Salmon Arm RCMP were pro-actively searching for a stolen Ford F-250 that had previously fled from police earlier that morning. Police located the vehicle on Skimikin Lake Rd, and took one 42-year-old woman into custody. The truck was badly damaged and had been spray painted a different colour than its registered colour. Salmon Arm RCMP held the woman for a bail hearing. Charges of one count possession of property obtained by crime, and one count fail to stop for peace officer were both approved against Tasha Baumle. Tasha Baumle was denied bail, and was remanded until her next court date on June 18, 2024.

17th St SE: at 10:40am a 30-year-old woman reported her 33-year-old sister had assaulted her. The 30-year-old woman stated the older sister was blocking her from getting her belongings, hit her and pulled her hair. The 30-year-old also reported that her tooth was chipped from the sister hitting her, however the attending officer could not see a chipped tooth. The mother of the two women confirmed they were arguing about ex-boyfriends but there was no physical violence. The older sister admitted to "guiding" her younger sister out of the house after she refused to leave after several requests. Due to conflicting stories with no supporting evidence, police were unable to charge anyone with assault. The 30-year-old sister gathered her stuff and headed back home to Kelowna.

June 7

20th St NE: A man reported that someone online was trying to extort him for $10 000. Police spoke with the man who admitted he had made a nude video of himself several months earlier, but did not share it with anyone. Someone had created a female Facebook profile and befriended the man over the course of a few weeks. The Facebook extortionist eventually revealed with a voice message to be a man, and had a strong European accent. The extortionist claimed to be with the FBI and was tracking down pedophiles, and claimed that if the man didn’t pay $10 000, he would release the nude video to the man’s friends and family. It wasn’t clear if the extortionist actually had access to the video somehow, or just had knowledge it existed and was attempting to use that information to extort the man. The man had de-activated all his social media accounts, and was in the process of advising friends and family there was a possibility they might receive a special video of him. Police advised against sending any money as regardless of whether he sent money or not, the video may still be shared. Police were unable to identify the extortionist. 

June 9

3rd St SE: At 12:30am Salmon Arm RCMP were on patrol and observed a white Chevrolet Cruz parked in the middle of 3rd St SE. Police conducted a traffic stop to check on the driver. The 23-year-old driver exited the vehicle, and immediately told police he wasn’t driving. The driver then fled on foot, police gave chase on foot stopping the man about 50 metres down the road and arresting him for obstruction. The man was displaying symptoms of being impaired, including an odour of alcohol and glazed eyes. Police conducted a breath demand, where the driver blew a fail on both his first and second breath samples. The driver was issued a 90-day driving prohibition, and the vehicle was impounded for 30 days. The man was also served violation tickets for no driver’s licence, and liquor in motor vehicle. The man was transported to cells to safely sober up overnight. The man was released the next morning once sober. One count of resist arrest is also being forwarded to BC Prosecution for charge assessment against the 23-year-old man.

June 11

300 block Trans Canada Hwy: At 11am a complainant reported observing a man yelling and kicking vehicles in a parking lot. A second caller reported seeing the man stomp the hood of a parked vehicle and had captured a few photos and a short video. Police attended and were unable to locate the man after making patrols in the area, but were able to identify him from the photos and video provided by the second caller. On June 12, the man was located and arrested for mischief, and released with the future court date to speak to the allegations.