Forty arrests during bike rally, patrons respectful, says RCMP
Despite the Merritt RCMP taking 40 people into custody after a busy 2nd Annual Great Canadian Bike Rally, Const. Tracy Dunsmore said the four days went relatively smoothly.
The entire force responded to nearly 250 files from Friday to Sunday, which is above average, but not bad for a weekend featuring a rally.
Dunsmore said 10 extra officers were called to Merritt from Kelowna, Penticton and Kamloops. Several highway patrol officers also joined the force.
“There were several roadside prohibitions due to drinking and drugs, but with the road checks set up over the weekend, it was found that the majority of persons were accessing local transit or designated drivers,” she said, noting the 40 arrests were mainly for public drunkenness. “There were a couple of domestics we had over the weekend, but it was mostly minor alcohol infractions, so we didn’t have the impaired drivers or bar fights or anything like that, which was nice.”
Several violation tickets and warnings were issued. General duty members didn’t charge any impaired drivers and no vehicle accidents were reported.
Dunsmore said there were more files in this year’s rally because of a higher turnout. Rally organizers didn’t return Herald phone calls by press time to comment on attendance.
“It was higher than a normal weekend, but it wasn’t really high for having so many extra people in town,” Dunsmore added. “All-in-all, the patrons were very respectful of the community and well behaved.”
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