Photo: Contributed Kelowna RCMP returned to a notorious problem house in Rutland this week. Several RCMP cruisers and officers were at 235 Nickel Rd. on Wednesday after several complaints from neighbors. “You can’t take your dog out, there are people out there trying to bully and they tried to take a kid’s bike and I went up and said no, leave the kid alone,” said a neighbor, Andrew, who did not want to publish his last name. Andrew says he has watched the neighborhood deteriorate and hopes police action will eventually solve the problem. “I’ve emailed the city council, I’ve emailed the mayor, no response. It’s not safe.” Kelowna RCMP tell Castanet they responded to the latest subject at the home after “a neighbor had another dispute with the occupants of the property that led to an alert.” “We later received another call about the vehicle and a Uhaul. The vehicle was checked and there were no concerns with it,” said Kelowna RCMP spokesman Const. Mike Della-Paolera. Della-Paolera said they contacted Uhaul and took possession of the vehicle. “The large police presence was for officer safety reasons,” added Const. Della-Paolera. The house is owned by Surrey-based estate agent Amit Chopra, who has been trying to evict the tenants for months. Chopra took ownership of the home at the end of March 2022, inheriting the tenants with the purchase. He says they have never paid the agreed upon monthly rent of $2,300. Chopra had an eviction hearing set for the tenants in January. Neighbors tell Castanet that they have reached breaking point with the activity and actions of the people who live and come and go from this house “We want to come together as a neighborhood to stand up and say, hey, we’re one of those people who don’t want to take it anymore.”
