Woman dragged from street

[the truth]

that's a fact............... its all about the $$$$$$ now they are relying on a once proud name and reputation of the past to fool people now---sad really--

[GordonH]

The voters in this country need to stand up & send very loud message to both Ottawa and Victoria. The soft on criminals BS is not working, needs to be turned 180 degrees in the other direction.
Everyone should feel & be safe no matter the time of day or night.

[burnedatstake]

i honestly dont believe that a new mayor will solve the problems downtown any better.

[7600736]

As I've said before, Kelowna is a sinking ship. You have two choices - go down with her or abandon ship ASAP. You're living in dreamsville if you think things are going to get better somehow. Kelowna has been discovered by the scumbag dregs of our society, and they ain't going anywhere as long as the drugs and handouts remain, which they will. So either win the lottery and buy a big gated spread on the outskirts, put up with it all and shut up, or leave.

[Scrobins94]

I disagree. Yes, Kelowna is currently worse than it has ever been, however, it is not as bad as East Hastings and neither is it unfixable. I truly do believe it will be a matter of time, that with the gentrification of Downtown and the upcoming population increase in Downtown that the frequency of crime should decrease. One thing that deters crime is the perception that they will get caught, and more people living, working, being active Downtown means more eyes on everything.

I believe it will be about 15 years till we have the critical mass of good people to overshadow the junky population and reclaim a very nice and vibrant Downtown for Kelowna.

[TreeGuy]

Scary and no idea why she stopped to talk to him when it says he had been following her. I'm with you Treeguy.. but some people have to walk home late for work :(
Glad someone stopped for her

When I met Mrs. Tree she was working in retail downtown Edmonton. I’d wait at her work for her to walk her home after work late at night. Finally she asked me one day just what I thought I was doing following her home every night. 18 years later we are still together. LOL

Joking a side, when we were dating I didn’t own a car and I would walk her home many nights after work. Then after I bought a truck I would pick her up after work. I always wanted to make sure she was safe. Now we host students in our home and we always make sure they aren’t left on their own downtown.

[the truth]

As I've said before, Kelowna is a sinking ship. You have two choices - go down with her or abandon ship ASAP. You're living in dreamsville if you think things are going to get better somehow. Kelowna has been discovered by the *bleep* dregs of our society, and they ain't going anywhere as long as the drugs and handouts remain, which they will. So either win the lottery and buy a big gated spread on the outskirts, put up with it all and shut up, or leave.

very true the homeless junkie problem is getting worse the more john howard buildings are going up, build it and they will come sad but true

[Fancy]

Yea, another fine citizen feeling all inclusive in our diverse community. Curious to see if there’s any comment from mayoral candidate and Bakery shop owner Bobby Kennedy. Wonder if someone will be requesting a look at company invoicing to see who may have purchased one of those particular boards in the past couple of years.

My first thought was the board was stolen.

Store owner and Kelowna mayoral candidate, Bobby Kennedy, spoke exclusively with Castanet News on Sunday, saying he investigated the very board that police found.

“We looked around to see whose board that was and it turns out that board was stolen this year from City Park skateboard park during the Centre of Gravity festival which we organize,” he said.

https://www.castanet.net/edition/news-s ... htm#239155

[the truth]

I disagree. Yes, Kelowna is currently worse than it has ever been, however, it is not as bad as East Hastings and neither is it unfixable. I truly do believe it will be a matter of time, that with the gentrification of Downtown and the upcoming population increase in Downtown that the frequency of crime should decrease. One thing that deters crime is the perception that they will get caught, and more people living, working, being active Downtown means more eyes on everything.

I believe it will be about 15 years till we have the critical mass of good people to overshadow the junky population and reclaim a very nice and vibrant Downtown for Kelowna.

the more people that live downtown the more victims for the junkies imo the more the better for them

[7600736]

I disagree. Yes, Kelowna is currently worse than it has ever been, however, it is not as bad as East Hastings and neither is it unfixable. I truly do believe it will be a matter of time, that with the gentrification of Downtown and the upcoming population increase in Downtown that the frequency of crime should decrease. One thing that deters crime is the perception that they will get caught, and more people living, working, being active Downtown means more eyes on everything.

I believe it will be about 15 years till we have the critical mass of good people to overshadow the junky population and reclaim a very nice and vibrant Downtown for Kelowna.

Fear of getting caught? Excuse me, but why would any career criminal fear getting caught with our lenient, revolving door justice system? For many in this country, minimum or medium security prison is a better bet than living rough on the streets, and drugs are not hard to find inside. As far as downtown gentrification supposedly turning things around...well...that may or may not happen. It certainly has had mixed results in the Vancouver downtown eastside. You figure it'll take around 15 years for things to turn around in Kelownas downtown? Great, glad I moved to the Island - that's far too long to wait, AFAIC.

[jimmy4321]

The last 10yrs or so Kelowna has increasingly become a crap magnet, you used to know where to avoid but now it don't think it matters.
People need to pair up if they need to walk at night, female or male.

[just popping in]

Okay, now this is turning into a political thing just because the skateboard came from the Bkry.
Do the research, many women have encountered the same scary experience downtown in the past year and did not receive this much attention.

[Because_They_Lie]

This incident occurred on Richter across the street from levitt lane, just after midnight or so. Could barely hear someone screaming as we slept, but we hear yelling and screaming every other day so we didn’t take a look. Police spent hours taking pictures and examining the area I heard. We hear skateboards on the sidewalk just about everyday. Time to put a few cameras in?

I definitely would, we just decided to move, didn't want anything to happen to my wife and kids.

There's just so much in that area by the hospital, there's a john howard society house across the street from the hospital, and that guy had stolen from us multiple times, we phoned John Howard they were like oh yeah he steals things, if you're missing something we have a bunch of stolen goods, I was incredulous, phoned the RCMP and they said, oh yeah we know about him.

There's always drug deals and shady happenings at the macs store, it was robbed at gunpoint a year and a half ago.

Also a constant flux of street people coming out of the hospital, there's the escort place, I don't know, I have no idea what the solution is, it's just too bad as we loved the location

It's actually crazy thinking about all the stories even just from the last two years that have happened in that area

Sounds like the same old failure of the RCMP.

Citizens always wondering "what can we do" - meanwhile you pay an elite group called the RCMP to be asking these questions and acting out the solutions - yet do they solve the problems of crime in your city? do they ever have it under control? are they out patrolling the streets or are they hiding or at Tim Horton - what do they actually do that has one man offering THEM $1000.00 for information on this "predator" - a citizen should NOT be offering the RCMP a reward for doing their job.

Time to get rid of the entire RCMP in my opinion.

The people themselves would do a better job policing their own community and it would save a lot of money AND probably many lives if we acknowledged the ineffectiveness of the RCMP and did the job ourselves.

I say, give the queen back her monkeys.

[Fancy]

How is this the original story?

ORIGINAL: 6 p.m.

A reward is being offered by the owner of a local skateboard shop for anyone who can provide information on a predator.

The man approached a woman on Friday night who was walking near Richter Street and Elliot Avenue just before midnight.

Initially the woman didn’t feel threatened by the man, and the man “spoke casually” to her. But things quickly changed.

Police say the man chased after the woman, tackled her to the ground and dragged her onto a property in the 2000 block of Richter Street.

She was able to break free and run, but the man chased after her.

A driver in the area saw the woman running and she was able to jump into the Good Samaritan’s vehicle.

Police searched for the man, but couldn’t find him and instead found his skateboard left at the scene.

The skateboard comes from the Bakery Boardshop on Pandosy Street in Kelowna.

Store owner and Kelowna mayoral candidate, Bobby Kennedy, spoke exclusively with Castanet News on Sunday, saying he investigated the very board that police found.

“We looked around to see whose board that was and it turns out that board was stolen this year from City Park skateboard park during the Centre of Gravity festival which we organize,” he said.

Kennedy said they looked further and couldn’t find who stole the skateboard.

“I want to extend my support to the woman that was attacked on Friday night,” he said, while speaking to Castanet alongside his two daughters.

He is personally offering $1,000 on behalf of the Bakery Boardshop for any information on the suspect that leads to justice.

“This is about keeping people like these little girls safe, keeping people like yourself safe,” he said. “Let's band together… let’s make Kelowna safer.”

Police say the woman sustained minor physical injuries in the assault.

Police describe the attacker as a Caucasian male, who is possibly part Filipino, in his early 20s with a medium build and shoulder-length brown and black hair.

RCMP are now asking people in the area to review their surveillance footage, and anyone with information is being asked to contact them.

Anyone who thinks they have information can also reach out to Kennedy directly at 250-870-2627.

[Fancy]

What happened to the motorist that assisted?

allegedly assaulting her.

The frightening incident occurred just before midnight on Friday, while the woman was walking near Richter Street and Elliot Avenue in Kelowna.

Heather and Keith Casley were in their living room when they heard someone yelling for help.

“Help me, help me, help me!,” Heather recalls hearing.

They looked out on their deck and saw a woman in a physical altercation with a man.

“He was dragging her into the bushes,” Heather told Castanet News.

Immediately, Keith ran out to help the woman but she was able to escape just before he got to her.

“I ran outside to see this girl sprinting extremely fast past us yelling ‘help me’ in a bloodcurdling scream,” Heather recalls.

Keith then ran after the man and Heather remembered thinking "What did I just witness?"

The suspect was not found and police are continuing to investigate.