Snoozing suspect nabbed by police

It was a bit of an unusual situation on Tuesday morning when RCMP officers responding to a break and enter in Vernon caught their suspect "napping on the job".

On Tuesday, March 19th, 2024, around 8:30 a.m., the Vernon North Okanagan RCMP received a report of a break and enter that occurred overnight at a business on Waddington Drive in Vernon. Staff had arrived at the business and discovered that during the night, someone had forced their way into the store and had rummaged through tools and other merchandise. Shortly after police attended, the person was found still inside the building; not trying to make an escape, but catching some Z's fast asleep on a storage shelf in the back of the business. The slumbering suspect was woken and taken into custody without incident.

The effort of breaking in and all the stress of the crime must have really tuckered him out, states Constable Chris Terleski, Media Relations Officer for the Vernon North Okanagan RCMP. Emptying display cabinets and sorting and stockpiling all of his loot left him so exhausted he decided to steal a few minutes of shut-eye before continuing with his heist, but completely overslept.

Instead of making a getaway, the 46-year old man made an initial appearance in court yesterday. He was remanded in custody and is scheduled to appear in court again later today.