A man was arrested in the KelownaNow office yesterday after coming uninvited into the building to watch pornography.
The incident happened in the middle of the afternoon, while staff were on the job at the company’s Pandosy Street office.
Cst. Jesse O'Donaghey said Kelowna RCMP arrested a 34-year-old man yesterday in connection with the incident, but did not release his name.
Webcam footage from KelownaNow’s office the day of the arrest shows a man walking into an empty boardroom at 1:22 p.m.
After appearing to inspect the room, he tests a wireless mouse and keyboard, before shutting the door, taking a seat at the boardroom table and surfing pornographic websites. Shortly after, he begins pleasuring himself.
The man spent more than an hour in the room before KelownaNow staff discovered and confronted him.
KelownaNow Chief Operations Officer Jim Csek said that, after he escorted the man from the building, he called the Kelowna RCMP.
O'Donaghey says police got the call at 3:14 p.m., and arrived a short time later. They spent approximately 45 minutes at KelownaNow’s office investigating.
At approximately 4 p.m, while police were still in the building, a man wearing the same clothes and matching the description of the man in the webcam video was discovered in the office kitchen.
A KelownaNow staff member reported seeing the suspect lurking in the back room. She alerted the police, and officers found him in the elevator a short time later.
After his arrest, a KelownaNow reporter asked the man why he came into the office, but RCMP officers shut down questioning, saying the suspect had no lawyer present.
Andrea, the employee who spotted the man lurking in the kitchen, said the entire event was “scary.”
“It was just disturbing,” she said.
“I didn’t want to go downstairs at the end of the day because I was scared, so I waited for my boyfriend up here in the office,” she added.
Although KelownaNow’s office remains locked most of the time, during business hours the public can access it. Csek said the incident has prompted him to install a host of additional security features in the building, and the public will no longer be able to enter the office without permission.
O'Donaghey says the 34-year-old suspect has been released from police custody with a promise to appear in court next year. O'Donaghey could not comment on potential charges at this time.
WARNING: Although graphic content has been blurred for our audience, some readers may find the following video disturbing.
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