Car-jacking crime spree suspect finally charged – 13 more criminal counts laid in court this week

2019-12-31

Penticton – Officers lay charges against a man allegedly responsible for a car jacking incident north of Ok Falls in September.

It is alleged, on September 19th, 2019, the accused, Jesse William Shawcross, 36 years of age, flagged down two vehicles along Eastside Road, in Penticton and threatened to use a firearm. He then stole one of the victim’s vehicles. The victims were not physically harmed, and called 911.

Five days later police say Shawcross stole a truck from Oliver. Later officers in Penticton observed the stolen truck near the 1000 block of Eckhardt Avenue West near the Penticton Golf Course.

The Targeted Enforcement Unit (TEU), along with front-line officers, converged into the area. Officers located the truck in a parking lot and confirmed the driver to be Shawcross.

Seeing officers moving in, Shawcross attempted to evade them by crashing through the parking lot, damaging several parked cars, and ultimately causing the truck to be inoperable. He then fled on foot, with officers giving chase across Eckhardt Avenue, where Shawcross resisted violently as several officers arrested him.

At the time of his arrest, RCMP were able to charge him with 11 offences, but were not in a position at that time to lay additional charges directly linking him to the robberies. With Shawcross in custody, the General Investigation Section was able to successfully gather further evidence linking him to those crimes.

On December 30th, an additional 13 charges were laid against Shawcross, which include robbery with a firearm x2.

“Shawcross has remained in custody following his arrest on September 24th. However, necessary evidence linking him to the car-jacking was only recently confirmed. Following a thorough investigation, our General Investigative Section submitted a detailed report to the BC Prosecution Service, recommending these additional charges against Shawcross”, says Cst. James Grandy.