Vernon man snaps selfie in the middle of citizen's arrest
Kevin Barkhouse says he spotted someone wearing his stolen jacket on Monday
A Vernon man who caught an alleged thief wearing his stolen jacket earlier this week snapped a selfie while he made a citizen's arrest.
Kevin Barkhouse found his truck ransacked when he went to take his kids to daycare on Monday morning.
"As soon as I got in, I noticed there was tons of crap on my seat and floor," the father-of-two told CBC News.
Barkhouse realized several items were missing from the truck, including his wallet, coat and gloves. He reported the break-in to police and made plans to drive to a nearby pawn shop to search for his belongings.
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Around 11 a.m., Barkhouse and his brother were driving through town when they saw someone wearing something familiar.
"I see some guy on the side of the road at a pay phone and he had a coat that looked exactly like mine," Barkhouse said.
He stopped to talk to the man about the jacket and asked him to empty his bag.
When Barkhouse noticed the man wasn't opening up every pocket, he decided to search for himself.
"I reached into it and pulled my wallet out," Barkhouse said. "At that point, I was like, 'This is the guy who broke into my truck last night.'"
Barkhouse, who says he's trained in mixed martial arts, restrained the alleged thief while his brother ran into a nearby store to call police.
While waiting for officers to arrive, Barkhouse took a selfie with the man on the ground — but he said he didn't take the photo for media attention.
"My opinion is, I got robbed and I got the guy. The cops didn't catch him, I got him.'" Barkhouse said. "I felt [the selfie] was in order."
Once Mounties arrived, they arrested the suspect without incident. Mitchell Sakowski, 25, is facing three charges in relation to the incident, including possession of stolen property under $5,000.
He remains in custody.
Citizen's arrests not encouraged by RCMP
Const. Jocelyn Noseworthy said the RCMP doesn't endorse citizen's arrests, despite the peaceful outcome of Barkhouse's intervention.
"If you see something suspicious or criminal, call us with that information," Noseworthy said. "In this particular case, we were very lucky no one was injured in the incident, but that's certainly something that can happen."
Canadians can legally make citizens' arrests under specific circumstances, but the officer said people can get themselves into trouble if they go too far.
"You can be looking at charges in incidents like this when you do try and make a citizen's arrest just because you overstep your bounds," Noseworthy said.
Despite that risk, Barkhouse said he's glad he intervened.
"For me, it feels amazing," he said. "It was an expensive coat and took days to earn enough money [to buy it]. I can't afford to have people steal my property."
His wife, on the other hand, wasn't so enthusiastic.
"She thinks I'm crazy. The whole thing to her is pretty mind-blowing ... she's impressed but not impressed at the same time."