Fugitive ‘bushman’ arrested in B.C.

Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, November 27, 2001

The Associated Press

SALMON ARM, British Columbia — He was known as the Bushman of the Shuswap, described by police as armed and dangerous and accused by area residents of breaking into cabins since he broke out of jail two years ago.

A five-member Royal Canadian Mounted Police emergency response team arrested John Bjornstrom Sunday evening in Four Mile Provincial Park on the shores of Shuswap Lake in the British Columbia interior about 200 miles northeast of Vancouver.

Officers found a sawed-off .22-caliber semiautomatic rifle and a .357-magnum handgun.

"It’s been a long saga, and we’re very happy," Sgt. Jim Harrison said. "We’ve been getting calls from cabin owners expressing relief."

Police would not say how they lured Bjornstrom into the trap. The park is accessible only by boat and foot trail.

Bjornstrom appeared in Provincial Court on Monday on charges that include assaulting a police officer and extortion. His next hearing was set for Dec. 11.

Other charges that are likely to be filed include escaping lawful custody, possession of firearms, pointing a firearm, extortion, theft and breaking and entering, Harrison said.

Bjornstrom foiled a number of previous arrest attempts, including one last summer when he was accused of pepper-spraying two officers and a police dog.

Police said he survived by breaking into vacation cottages and stealing tens of thousands of dollars worth of canoes, gasoline, food, water pumps, building materials, guns and other goods in the mountains and forests around the lake east of Kamloops.

The arrest followed weeks of planning, Harrison said.

"We had to wait for the opportune moment," he said. "He was taken by complete surprise and had no chance to offer resistance. It was well planned."

Police are now looking for the elaborate underground encampment where they believe Bjornstrom lived, as he claimed in some media interviews while he was loose, Harrison said.

"We have to locate that encampment for public safety and to ensure there is no risk to the public," he said.

Bjornstrom had been on the run since September 1999, when he escaped from provincial jail in Kamloops while serving eight months for breaking and entering.

In media interviews while at large, including some on television as recently as last week, Bjornstrom said he knew the secrets to conspiracies ranging from the disappearance of children to a massive stock scandal.

Prosecutors are seeking to require him to undergo a psychiatric assessment.

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