Police have not provided the public with much information about why so many violent episodes have unfolded in Merritt over the past week, but the recent charges against Ronald Karlson may offer a few clues.
Image Credit: FACEBOOK/Ron Karlson
November 23, 2022 - 4:30 PM
Police have not provided the public with much information about why so many violent episodes have unfolded in Merritt over the past week, but the recent charges against Ronald Karlson may offer a few clues.
He was arrested after a lengthy standoff with police early this morning, and the RCMP had been looking for him all week.
He was spotted in Merritt on Nov. 14 and a warrant was issued for his arrest the following day, according to a news release from Nov. 15.
“Mr. Karlson is currently on conditions, which include not to be within a five-kilometer radius of the City of Merritt,” said Const. Jon Puterbough in the release after a series of shootings and police standoffs that have been unfolding in Merritt.
Last weekend on Nov. 18, three men – Braeden Shane Drake, Mark Ethan Giesbrecht, and William Joseph Lavoie – were arrested in Merritt and charged with kidnapping after a police standoff in the 1700 block of Nicola Avenue.
READ MORE: RCMP investigating several targeted shootings in Merritt and area
Back to Karlson – this isn’t his first time getting in trouble with the law.
The earliest recording of Karlson, who was born in 1986, in B.C.’s court records is from February 2005, when he was charged with breach of undertaking or recognizance. He has faced that same charge numerous other times since then, in addition to many breaches of court orders.
Later in 2005, on Oct. 30, he was charged with dangerous operation of motor vehicle. And on Dec. 17, 2005, he was accused of breaching a protective intervention order under the Child, Family and Community Service Act. He was found guilty of both of those charges in May 2006.
In May 2007, he was charged with and later found guilty of failing to appear pursuant to court order, which was in relation to a break and enter allegedly committed by Luke Robinson on Dec. 14, 2006.
Karlson appears to have stayed out of trouble for a few years until he committed two offences on Sept. 13, 2011. He was charged and later found guilty of mischief under $5,000 and trespassing at night.
One publication ban prevents details from being shared about why he was in court Oct. 25, 2012, and another from June 27, 2013.
Karlson’s name couldn’t be found in court documents again until he was charged on Aug. 19, 2016 with mischief under $5,000, then found guilty.
He was charged and found guilty of possession of stolen property and possessing a weapon for dangerous purpose as a result of his actions on Dec. 7, 2019.
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He was charged and later found guilty of attempting to steal a vehicle on Jan. 22, 2020.
On March 13, 2020, Karlson was charged with 15 offences, including unlawful confinement or imprisonment, robbery with intent to steal a firearm, assault with a weapon, theft of a motor vehicle and flight from police.
His co-accused in that incident was Candace May Karlson who was born in 1985. She was charged and found guilty of unlawful confinement or imprisonment, assault causing bodily harm, possession of stolen property and being unlawfully in a dwelling-house.
On Aug. 22 of 2020, Karlson was charged with wilfully resisting or obstructing a peace officer. His co-accused in this incident was Lanor Kassandra Rose Voght-Bob. She was charged with possession of stolen property over $5,000. Both were later found guilty.
Karlson and Voght-Bob got in trouble again with the police in 2022 relating to a June 14 incident. Karlson was charged with possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose and later found guilty, while Voght-Bob was charged with mischief under $5,000 and resisting a peace officer.
Charges filed today include break and enter and commit indictable offence, forcible entry and wilfully resisting a peace officer.
The Merritt RCMP reported he was “safely” taken into custody this morning.
Karlson’s Facebook page says he lives in Surrey and is from Merritt. His LinkedIn account identifies him as a mill worker at Aspen Planers in Merritt.
His bail hearing is scheduled for 5 p.m. tonight, Nov. 23 at the Kamloops Law Courts.
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