PENTICTON — A prolific offender in Penticton is back in custody but not before putting up a fight — resulting in the injury of a police officer.
Andrew Robert Hardenstine, 33, was arrested last week outside a Roy Avenue apartment complex where police seized guns and drugs.
He was arrested on September 11 shortly after he was witnessed by police carrying a long-barrel firearm in a backpack.
Police say they tried to arrest him after he exited the building, but he put up a fight.
“Police moved in to arrest Hardenstine when he exited the building a short time later when he was seen getting on a white and orange KTM enduro motorcycle parked in a nearby alley,” says Corporal Dan Moskaluk. “Hardenstine attempted to leave the area as RCMP officers moved in to arrest him. Hardenstine attempted to flee and tried to maneuver the motorcycle around an unmarked police car, however he collided with it and was knocked down.”
Police tackled Hardenstine but he managed to break free. He was eventually captured with the help of other officers. One of the officers involved in the takedown suffered a broken wrist.
Police seized a semi-automatic rifle from Hardenstine’s backpack. They also seized a loaded handgun, several rounds of ammunition and a bottle containing the so-called date-rape drug GHB.
A search of Hardenstine’s apartment turned up a large quantity of GHB and some methamphetamine.
The motorcycle he was riding was reported stolen from McLure.
Hardenstine made news earlier this year. He was arrested in Summerland last February by the RCMP’s Emergency Response Team after he walked away from a halfway house in Kamloops on January 14. At the time, police indicated that Hardenstine had a lengthy criminal record including violence.
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