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Man charged in connection with Salmon Arm 7-Eleven fire to again seek bail

Preliminary inquiry regarding three charges from August 2018 blaze set to begin Sept. 30
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The man charged in connection with the August 2018 fire that destroyed the 7-Eleven store in downtown Salmon Arm will again be the subject of a bail hearing.

Kenneth Robert LaForge, 39, faces charges of mischief of $5,000 or under, arson in relation to inhabited property and arson damaging property. On July 30, he faced a fourth count: breach of an undertaking or recognizance.

Court documents describing the circumstances of this count state that on June 6, at or near Salmon Arm, LaForge, who was released from custody in January, failed to comply with a condition of his release. That condition was not to possess or consume alcohol, drugs or any other intoxicating substance except in accordance with a medical prescription.

Documents contain no further details of the breach.

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When LaForge was released in January, Judge Richard Hewson imposed 23 conditions, including a curfew confining him inside his Sorrento residence between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. each day unless he has a compelling reason and has written permission from his bail supervisor, not going to a 7-Eleven store and not possessing any incendiary device, flammable product or explosive substance.

A preliminary inquiry regarding the three charges has already been set for Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 in Salmon Arm before a Supreme Court judge.

LaForge appeared in Provincial Court in Salmon Arm on Tuesday, July 30 via video from Okanagan Correctional Centre in Oliver.

His lawyer, Glenn Verdurmen, asked for an adjournment to Aug. 13 so he could talk to his client about his bail situation.

“My hope is to have a bail hearing,” Verdurmen told the court.

Judge Dennis Morgan suggested that he speak with the judicial case manager to find a time for a one-hour bail hearing.

None of the charges have been proven in court.


@SalmonArm
marthawickett@saobserver.net

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Martha Wickett

About the Author: Martha Wickett

came to Salmon Arm in May of 2004 to work at the Observer. I was looking for a change from the hustle and bustle of the Lower Mainland, where I had spent more than a decade working in community newspapers.
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