Kelowna Law Courts

(KATHY MICHAELS / iNFOnews.ca)

At least eight people were arrested and two homes searched when Kelowna RCMP shut down a Rutland street last week. Just one man has been charged so far.

Michael Dennison has six criminal charges against him as he awaits a bail hearing, but they offer little clarity as to why police cordoned off the Cactus Road on Thursday morning.

Before the heavily-armed emergency response team was called in, an officer first started following a white Ford Escape from the Rutland home to a nearby gas station.

The vehicle was "previously deemed suspicious" and it was parked at a home "familiar with police," according to Kelowna RCMP spokesperson Ryan Watters.

The officer turned on emergency lights and tried to stop the vehicle at the gas station, but it fled the scene and returned to the Rutland home. Another officer later found a firearm on the side of the road, suspected to be tossed from the SUV.

Dennison, born in 1991, is expected to appear in a Kelowna courtroom on Jan. 6. His charges include careless use or storage of a firearm, flight from police and breach of probation, according to online court records.

His charges are likely related to the flight from the gas station, but don't shed light on why the vehicle was deemed suspicious in the first place.

Dennison has faced multiple criminal charges in the Okanagan and Kamloops areas since 2017, which often include driving while prohibited.

Those included one incident where he fled Penticton RCMP, leading police to close down the William R. Bennett Bridge to catch him in a stolen 1998 Oldsmobile Aurora.

Instead of chasing him, several detachments worked together to close the bridge for more than an hour until Dennison and another man were arrested. He ended up with a seven-month jail sentence in 2017.

So far, he's the only person to be criminally charged, but police arrested seven people from one house and another man from the second house.

Police said the second search and arrest were unrelated, but happened to take place on the same street around the same time.

Kelowna RCMP seized three firearms from the second house where the wanted man was arrested, but did not specify what, if anything, was seized from the first house on the 1000 block of Cactus Road.

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