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High-risk offender faces weapons charges

Suspect arrested in Salmon Arm, accused of threatening to kill father, burn down family home.

A man who is on the Justice Ministry’s High Risk Offender Identification Program is facing eight charges in connection with an Oct. 23 incident near Salmon Arm.

Salmon RCMP responded to an altercation involving a father and son at a residence on Highway 97B about 6:30 p.m. that day.

The father had reported that his son had threatened his life as well as threatening to burn down the family home, Staff Sgt. Scott West stated in an Oct. 25 news release.

“While in this frustrated state, the male damaged the residence and the father escaped the area and called 911. The 36-year-old male is known to police to be violent and is, in fact, on the Ministry of Justice High Risk Offender Identification Program.”

Related link: RCMP arrest man for uttering threats

Mark Salai stands charged with: willfully damaging the property of Les Salai, under $5,000; uttering or conveying a threat to cause death or bodily harm, or to damage property; possessing a 30-06 rifle while prohibited from doing so; possessing a prohibited firearm, restricted firearm, or non-restricted firearm without a licence; possessing a 30-06 rifle that had been obtained by the commission in Canada of an offence; storing a 30-06 rifle in a manner contrary to regulation; and possessing a .22 calibre rifle while prohibited from doing so.

In their Oct. 25 news release, police reported that the suspect has warrants for his arrest in Alberta and Saskatchewan and is under a number of court-ordered conditions, which include a prohibition on possessing firearms or ammunition.

West says when police arrived at the Highway 97B residence, the victim was safe but the suspect had fled the house in his vehicle and was believed to be in the community.

RCMP Police Dog Services were called in to assist as local officers tried to locate the man. Subsequent patrols and investigation located the suspect’s vehicle on Okanagan Avenue in Salmon Arm with no occupants.

Police say they were able to talk to the suspect by phone while he was on foot in the area and eventually located him shortly before 9 p.m.

During the arrest, the man refused to respond to police directions and the police dog was used to subdue the suspect, RCMP reported. He was later treated at Shuswap Lake General Hospital for minor injuries associated with the arrest.

Mark Salai is in custody and is scheduled to appear in provincial court in Salmon Arm on Nov. 21.

@SalmonArm
marthawickett@saobserver.net

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Martha Wickett

About the Author: Martha Wickett

came to Salmon Arm in May of 2004 to work at the Observer. I was looking for a change from the hustle and bustle of the Lower Mainland, where I had spent more than a decade working in community newspapers.
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