Kamloops ATM Theft: RCMP Search for Suspect Who Escaped by Swimming Across North Thompson River

Late-Night Pub Break-In Leads to Unusual River Escape

In the early hours of Friday, Kamloops RCMP responded to a reported break and enter at a pub near the intersection of Westsyde Road and Bebek Road. According to police, two suspects allegedly forced their way into the business at around 3:30 a.m. and removed an automated teller machine (ATM) from inside the premises before fleeing in a pickup truck later confirmed to be stolen.

Investigators quickly located both the stolen truck and the discarded ATM. The cash that had been inside the machine was gone by the time officers recovered it. A coordinated search effort involving an RCMP police dog handler led officers to two men believed to be linked to the break-in. They were tracked along Westsyde Road to the banks of the North Thompson River, where both entered the water in an attempt to evade arrest. One man was taken into custody on the near side of the river, but the second suspect swam across to the opposite bank and has not yet been located despite extensive ground and water searches.

Ongoing Search and Public Safety Overview

As of the latest public updates on June 26, 2026, the second suspect remains outstanding. Police have released a physical description to help the community identify the individual. He is described as balding, with a beard, and having full-sleeve tattoos on his right arm and shoulder. At the time of the incident, he was last seen wearing blue jeans and was believed to have exited the North Thompson River cold, wet, and likely disoriented somewhere on the east side of the river.

Kamloops RCMP, with support from Kamloops Fire and Rescue, conducted what officials characterized as a significant search effort along the river and surrounding area. Authorities are asking anyone who may have seen a person matching this description—especially someone who appeared unexpectedly wet, cold, or out of place in the early morning hours—to contact police. Residents in the Westsyde corridor and neighbourhoods along the river are encouraged to review any private security, doorbell, or dash camera footage from the time of the incident.

Community Context & Social Sentiment

This incident has drawn wide attention online, partly due to the unusual nature of the escape attempt. Social media posts on platforms such as X (formerly Twitter) have described the search as a dramatic scene involving officers, police dogs, and rescue teams focusing on the riverbank. Some users reacted with a mix of shock and dark humour to the idea of a suspect swimming across the North Thompson River in the middle of the night, while others expressed concern that a person allegedly involved in a serious property crime was able to temporarily evade capture.

Official RCMP messaging shared on social platforms emphasizes that the suspect is believed to be involved in a targeted property offence—specifically an ATM theft from a closed business—rather than a random attack on the public. Nonetheless, community discussion has touched on broader questions about late-night commercial security, the risks of leaving large cash-based machines accessible overnight, and the strain such incidents place on police and fire-rescue resources. Some residents have contrasted the unusual nature of the river escape with ongoing worries about routine property crime in commercial corridors.

The immediate area around Westsyde Road and Bebek Road is a mixed-use corridor with local businesses near residential streets and relatively direct access to the river. Open-source data does not provide a detailed breakdown of crime by this specific intersection, but residents describe the neighbourhood as generally stable, with concerns more often focused on theft, break and enter, and vehicle-related offences than on violent crime. For a broader picture of crime patterns, residents can review regional data such as the Kamloops Crime Statistics & Safety Report and the surrounding Kamloops, British Columbia — Crime Statistics & Safety Data, which place this incident in the wider context of citywide trends.

Police have not publicly identified the pub or its operators by name in the sources reviewed, nor have they provided details on the dollar value of the cash stolen from the ATM. No injuries to staff, patrons, or nearby residents have been reported in connection with the break and enter or subsequent search.

How This Incident Fits Into the Larger Crime Picture

Based on the available open-source reporting, this event is being treated as a serious but targeted property crime involving a commercial break and enter, vehicle theft, and the theft of cash from an ATM. From a statistical perspective, the clearest quantitative details available are incident-specific: two suspects, a single business targeted around 3:30 a.m., one stolen ATM, one stolen truck, one arrest, and one suspect currently at large. No publicly accessible data in the provided sources offers precise year-over-year break and enter counts for the immediate Westsyde neighbourhood, nor does it quantify how many similar ATM-focused thefts have occurred in the last 12 months.

However, incidents of this nature align with broader patterns observed in many Canadian municipalities, where commercial break and enters and thefts from or of vehicles are recurring concerns. While the swimming escape itself is highly unusual, the underlying offence type—a late-night forced entry targeting high-value, cash-based equipment—is consistent with common property crime motivations. Residents seeking a deeper understanding of how property crimes compare to violent offences, or how Westsyde fits into the larger municipal picture, can consult resources like the Kamloops 1, British Columbia — Crime Statistics & Safety Data, which aggregate police-reported incidents into standardized indicators.

Without published, location-specific statistics for this exact intersection, it is not possible to say definitively whether the pub break-in represents an escalation or an outlier for Westsyde. What is clear from the official response is that authorities treated the situation as an active, unfolding event requiring substantial deployment of personnel on land and water. The quick recovery of both the truck and the ATM suggests a relatively rapid police reaction time, but the outstanding suspect underscores the limits of real-time containment when natural barriers like the North Thompson River are involved.

For residents, the practical takeaway is twofold: first, this incident highlights the importance of robust overnight security for commercial properties, including physical hardening, alarm monitoring, and video surveillance; second, it illustrates how community cooperation—such as sharing tips, video footage, or unusual observations—can be decisive in helping police close open files, especially when suspects move quickly between vehicle, foot, and water routes.

About This Report

This safety alert was generated by aggregating data from local authorities, community reports, and open-source intelligence. Our mission at Crime Canada is to provide citizens with localized safety data and context. We are not the original creators of the underlying news reports.

Primary Source: Information in this report was initially covered by Raynee Novak for CityNews Vancouver.

Additional Research & Context

• Further coverage of the river escape and search efforts appears in regional reporting from CFJC Today, which details the recovery of the stolen truck and ATM and the coordinated response by Kamloops RCMP and Kamloops Fire and Rescue: CFJC Today incident report.
• Castanet Kamloops provides additional local context on the Westsyde pub break and enter and the description of the outstanding suspect, including his distinctive tattoos and clothing: Castanet Kamloops coverage of the North Thompson River escape.
• The BC RCMP shared an official appeal and suspect description via social media, including a call for tips from anyone in the North Thompson River area who may have seen the individual shortly after the incident: BC RCMP public advisory on X.