Two weapons from separate incidents along Cavan St. on Monday, July 24 were seized by police and will be destroyed. (Nanaimo RCMP)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

guns seized

Firearms charges stem from pair of unrelated incidents along Nanaimo’s Cavan St.

Jul 27, 2023 | 9:23 AM

NANAIMO — Multiple arrests and charges have been laid after a pair of firearms-related calls on a downtown Nanaimo street.

Local RCMP officers were first called to the 100 block of Cavan St. on Monday, July 24 at around 8 a.m. in response to a large fight with at least one of those involved seen with what was believed to be a handgun.

Reserve Cst. Gary O’Brien said two people were arrested for their role in the altercation.

“An airsoft pistol was located in a grocery bag however, ownership of the replica firearm could not be established. Additionally, officers were unable to establish that the airsoft pistol had been pointed at anyone or used in a threatening manner,” O’Brien added.

A 19-year-old man of no fixed address was arrested on an outstanding assault causing bodily harm warrant while the other man was taken into custody for long enough to calm down and sober up.

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Then, around 10:30 a.m. on the same day, officers were called back to Cavan St. after someone called 911 reporting a handgun in a vehicle, which had several people inside.

O’Brien said once again, a large police presence was called in to safely deal with the situation.

“All the individuals were removed and what we found was a flare gun that had been converted to fire .22 round bullets. Very troubling. That was seized, that individual who’s well known to us was taken into custody, and he’s been remanded until Monday (July 31), and he’s looking at a multitude of firearm-related charges.”

29-year-old Ron Arndt was arrested and faces charges of possession of a weapon dangerous to the public peace and other firearms charged.

He appeared in court Wednesday, July 26 and remains in custody ahead of his next scheduled appearance on Monday, July 31.

Arndt’s criminal record dates back to 2013 with charges of theft, assault causing bodily harm and multiple breaches of court orders and failures to appear.

O’Brien noted the Cavan St. area is frequented by marginalized people afflicted by drug addiction, which can lead to violence.

“Often we’re finding now a lot of people who are living on the streets are arming themselves with various types of weapons, from converting flare guns to airsoft pistols. We as police officers, we can’t tell the difference from 10 or 20 feet whether an airsoft pistol is a real gun or not, so we treat it as a real firearm until such time we’ve determined it’s not.”

O’Brien said they have no reason to believe the two incidents were related.

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