(BEN BULMER / iNFOnews.ca)

VERNON - A Lower Mainland woman facing 20 charges relating to fraud and identity theft following an incident that led to a police chase involving a U-Haul cube van, was sentenced in the Vernon courthouse on Aug. 2.

Desiree Denise Kathleen Fisher, born 1997, was convicted of seven charges, including identity theft, unlawful possession of identity documents relating to another person, fraud under $5,000 and possessing and/or using a stolen credit card. The Crown stayed another 13 charges against her.

The charges relate to an incident dating back to January 2018. Vernon North Okanagan RCMP said shortly after the incident, that officers had been called to investigate a couple who had used fake names and fraudulent credit cards at Best Buy and The Bay in Vernon to buy "a large amount of electronics and household items."

When Fisher, along with co-accused David Robert Anderson, born 1986, returned to the store to collect their purchases with a cube van the following day RCMP officers moved in to arrest them.

Anderson, who was behind the wheel of the cube van, sped off at high speed, colliding with two police vehicles and an unoccupied vehicle in the parking lot on his way.

Fisher was left at the scene and arrested.

Police later stopped the cube van with a spiked belt near Ellison Provincial Park on Eastside Road.

Fisher who spent 135 days in custody following the incident, was sentenced Aug. 2 to a six-month conditional sentence, served in the community and not in custody, followed by 18 months probation.

Anderson, who is facing almost 40 charges related to the event, including dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, assaulting police with a weapon, fraud over $5,000 and possession of a controlled substance, is due to stand trial February 2020.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Ben Bulmer or call (250) 309-5230 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. 

News from © iNFOnews, 2019