A 42-year old Washington man was taken into custody by Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) on Monday, following his arrest near Rossland three days earlier.
The afternoon of Friday, March 24, the Trail RCMP were alerted to a man in possession of a bow, arrows, and a hunting knife on a rural property in the 5000 block of Old Rossland-Cascade Highway, near Rossland.
The suspect, identified by police in a March 24 media release as Levi Sweet, was allegedly in the country without authorization, as he did not cross through a designated border station. After officers made contact with him, Sweet fled into in the sparsely populated area.
Trail RCMP issued a media release that afternoon warning residents to lock their homes and secure vehicles. Sweet was located next to a campfire later that day after an extensive search was deployed using RCMP police dog services, the Southeast District Containment Team, and the Emergency Response Team.
Sweet was taken into custody and held at the Trail detachment until Monday when he was turned over to border agents.
Trail police are not pursuing criminal charges, though CBSA is conducting an investigation under the immigration act.
“We would like to thank everyone for their cooperation during this investigation to bring it to a safe conclusion,” says Sgt. Mike Wicentowich.
Drug arrest
Late Saturday afternoon, near the intersection of Columbia Avenue and McQuarrie Street in East Trail, officers arrested a 35-year-old Trail man for breaching a condition of the court. An officer searched the man incidental to his arrest and allegedly seized a bear spray canister, 88 grams of a substance suspected to be ketamine, drug trafficking paraphernalia, and $3,855. The man is slated for his first appearance in the Rossland courthouse on July 20.
Fun fact
Sunday night, a Trail RCMP officer responded to a report from a witness that a five-year-old child was running away from her home in the 3000 block of Highway 3B, near Fruitvale. The officer attended the residence and learned from her parents that the little lady did not want to clean her room. She decided to run away instead but stopped and turned around at the end of her driveway after talking to the witness.
“No update on whether or not she cleaned her room later that day,” adds Sgt. Wicentowich.