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Dramatic conclusion for RCMP manhunt in Cawston

A two-day manhunt for Ronald Arthur Teneycke that tore through the South Okanagan came to a dramatic conclusion in a Cawston orchard.
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officers appear in the orchard in Cawston where Ronald Teneycke was arrested Thursday

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A two-day manhunt that tore through the South Okanagan came to a dramatic conclusion in a Cawston orchard.

At 10:40 a.m. Thursday morning police apprehended Ronald Arthur Teneycke at Taylor Farms on Barcello Road in an apple orchard.

RCMP issued a warning Wednesday that Teneycke was considered armed and extremely dangerous and was in the Oliver area.

Most recently Teneycke is thought to be involved in an armed robbery at a store in Oliver on July 16 and suspected of assaulting a man with a weapon and stealing his truck on July 22.

On Thursday morning an RCMP officer involved in the search spotted a truck near Cawston that looked like the one Teneycke had allegedly stolen.

The officer approached and identified Teneycke alone in the vehicle and Teneycke attempted to flee heading toward Fairview-Cawston Road.

Bryan Dyck, the orchard owner's son-in-law was in the orchard at the time of the arrest.

As he pruned in the orchard he watched helicopters search the area from the air most of the morning and thought it most likely had to do with Teneycke.

When he saw the helicopters start to come down he decided to head in that direction.

Dyck said RCMP t-boned a truck pushing it into the orchard he believes Teneycke was in and the suspect attempted to flee.

He heard a series of gun shots.

As he came out of an orchard row, he came face-to-face with a police officer.

“He told me I better get out of there. Here I am with pruning shears in my hands and he's telling me to get out of there and I'm hearing shots,” he said. “I'd say I was about 20-feet from them. I'm not sure who was shooting at who.”

Cpl. Dave Tyreman was not able to confirm by press time if shots had been fired or if a collision had occurred during the pursuit.

But he did say in an email to Black Press, “It is believed no one was injured in the arrest, but cannot be confirmed at this time.”

An ambulance was on scene Thursday morning, but left empty, an officer at the scene told Black Press.

Although Barcello Road was open to traffic, Lowe Drive was closed and police were positioned at cross roads and guarded a portion of the orchard.

Residents were not evacuated but no one could get into the area where the arrest took place.

Many residents in the Cawston area suspected Teneycke was close by when they found Fairview Road between Cawston and Oliver closed Wednesday afternoon.

Sally Taylor, the orchard owner was at home a short distance away at the time of the dramatic arrest.

“I didn't really know anything about it. I was out cutting the grass on the riding lawn mower and I couldn't hear the helicopters. I did know he was in the area so I asked one of the guys just to check the garden shed for me. I was scared he might be in there,” she said while taking a break from cutting the lawn.

Her son had called her from his job at the packing house nearby and told her to get in the house and lock the doors because Teneycke was definitely in the area.

It wasn't long after, she received the call from Dyck, her son-in-law telling her police were shooting in the orchard and they had arrested someone.

She's lived in the area for more than 35 years.

“I don't remember anything like this happening here before. It's pretty crazy for little old Cawston,” she said.

Earlier in July a warrant was put out for Teneycke's arrest after he failed to show up for his intermittent (weekends only) jail sentence. Teneycke pleaded guilty to his most recent charges of making or possessing explosives and possessing a weapon contrary to a court order. The 52-year-old was sentenced on April 9 to time served since his Jan. 22 arrest, as well as an additional 90 days, a lifetime firearm ban and three years probation.

After his sentence was suspended in April due to health related issues, Teneycke pleaded with the court to extend the start date of his sentence to no avail.

Teneycke spent 12 years in federal prison, most of those related to being found guilty of a sexual assault with a weapon on a 17-year-old female. Since his release in 2007, Teneycke has returned to jail several times for breaches of probation and in 2013 was found guilty of possession of methamphetamine.

On July 16, South Okanagan (Oliver) RCMP attended to a complaint of an armed robbery in the 6400 block of Park Drivei

Officers attended and spoke to the business owner who advised that just shortly after 10 a.m. that day an unknown man entered the store and produced a weapon. Extensive patrols were made for the suspect vehicle by Oliver, Osoyoos and South Okanagan Traffic Services

officers and with the assistance of a RCMP helicopter.

Around 11:30 a.m. last Wednesday Oliver RCMP learned that an individual picked up what they thought was a hitchhiker on Baldy Mountain Forest Service Road. Police said the individual allegedly assaulted the driver with a weapon and stole the owner's 1999 white three-quarter ton GMC pick-up with the licence plate 7621 GG with "Okanagan Rustic Furniture" written across the back window.

 

RCMP issued a warning last Wednesday that Teneycke was considered armed and extremely dangerous and was in the Oliver area. The South East District Emergency Response team, as well as police from multiple detachments, including Penticton, were seen in Oliver where police had located a vehicle they believed Teneycke to be driving.

 

 

 

Teneycke was transported to a neighboring detachment on Thursday and faces a court date Friday.

-— With files from Dale Boyd/Penticton Western News