Karma can be a beautiful thing… under the right circumstances

Karma can be a beautiful thing under the right circumstances. Those circumstances were perfect on Friday September 27th at 11:03 p.m. While police were driving along 50th Avenue North, a red Honda three-wheeler ATV with an operator wearing a bright blue helmet with a silver star and passenger with a plain dark coloured helmet on board suddenly pulled out of Fas Gas onto 50th Avenue North right in front of the unmarked police truck. Inexplicably the passenger decided this was the perfect opportunity to demonstrate how much he appreciates the police by flipping them the bird and yelling a really nasty obscenity and something about pork at police as they sped off down the street.
Police did not pursue the ATV, instead watched as the ATV tore off down 50th Avenue North and turned left onto 44th Street before disappearing from sight.
This would be the point where karma intervened. Within seconds of disappearing from sight police heard a loud bang and then nothing but silence.
Police pulled up to the stop sign at the corner of 50th Avenue North and 44th Street. They looked north and noted the ATV had crashed into the stop sign at the corner of 44th Street and 52nd Avenue East, where it rolled over.
Police immediately proceeded to the scene where they located the uninjured ATV operator rolling around on the ground in bewilderment.
Police also located the ATV’s passenger nearby also sharing the ATV operator’s bewilderment. Police wasted no time in confirming the 19-year-old Fort Nelson man operating the ATV was intoxicated hense the reason he stopped so abruptly at the stop sign.
Police impounded the ATV for 30 days and issued the 19-year-old ATV operator with a 90-day Immediate Roadside prohibition from driving along with slightly over $1,000 in fines.
The squirrel, the homeowner,
the police and the furnace
On September 27th at 6:43 p.m. police received a complaint from a local homeowner reporting an animal trapped inside their furnace.
They immediately responded to the residence where they, after being briefed on the situation by the homeowner, cautiously entered the furnace/laundry room.
Once inside the furnace/laundry room police, the homeowner, and her daughter began examining the furnace looking for the reported furry little trespasser. While the homeowner was peeking inside the furnace the furry little trespasser suddenly appeared.
The very cute and frightened squirrel with the big brown round eyes took one look at the two women and two Mounties and fled through the furnace door, zooming across the room and past everyone in an effort to avoid capture.

The homeowner’s daughter, upon seeing the furry little rodent making its break for freedom, yelled very loudly “a squirrel!” At this point, chaos ensued. The two women and one of the police officers, who shall be referred to as police officer #1, recoiled in shock, jumped out of the way of the fleeing squirrel, and screamed in harmony their surprise and shock. Police Officer #1 later described his unexpected actions as a “tactical re-positioning for reasons of safety”. Amidst the general chaos now taking place in the furnace/laundry room, Police Officer #2 calmly utilised a laundry bag to capture the terrified squirrel and carry it out of the house to the front yard where it was released.
The homeowner, her daughter, and most certainly the squirrel were all very happy and relieved with the final outcome. Police Officer #1 was also overjoyed with the final outcome having recovered emotionally from his terrifying encounter with the untamed world of wildlife.
Once again police find themselves in the position of having to remind property, vehicle, and ATV owners to ensure their property, vehicles and ATVs are securely locked up when not in use.
Over the last month a number of our fruitless local thieves have been prowling throughout the community after dark attempting to steal anything and everything that is not nailed down or locked up. This includes cars, trucks and ATVs.
These thieves have experienced some success, making off with a number of ATVs and other vehicles. However, police have experienced some good fortune, quickly recovering all but a couple of the recently stolen items which most likely would not have been stolen in the first place had the owners of these vehicles and other property taken the time to properly secure and lock up their property.
Sometime overnight of October 6th and 7th thieves entered a 2011 Ford Escape in the 5100 block of 49th Street, stealing an iPod, family pictures, a BC driver’s licence, and an ICOM IC F70DT radio and microphone. The owner of the vehicle advised police that he had locked the vehicle, however left the driver’s side window was partially open to air the interior of the vehicle out overnight.
On October 7th at 4:45 p.m. police received a report that during the early morning hours of Sunday October 6th at approximately 3:00 a.m. a 64- year-old Cayley, AB, man staying at the Super 8 Motel reported that his co-worker woke up to catch two unknown males attempting to steal their ATV from the back of their work truck.
When the two thieves were confronted by the owner of the ATV they quickly fled, leaving the ATV hanging over the side of the truck.
Last Tuesday October 8th police received a complaint from Wide Sky Disposal reporting the theft of two very expensive HID lights from a CAT loader parked along 55th Street sometime between 4:00 p.m. on October 4th and October 7th at 4:00 p.m. This past Friday morning at 1:34 a.m. police received anonymous information that three well-known criminals and thieves, two females, 28 and 29 years, and a male, 24 years, had stolen two side by side ATVs from the Bluebell Motel. Police made numerous patrols around the community however did not locate the reportedly stolen ATVs. At 9:40 a.m. police located an abandoned ATV trailer on Nahanni Drive with the trailer hitch lock still in place but the cable used to secure the ATVs to the trailer cut. Unbeknownst to the thieves both the Polaris side by side ATVs were equipped with a GPS system which assisted the police in locating both ATVs, one in the bushes behind a residence on Sikanni Road and the other on a trail behind Reserve Road where they had both been abandoned.
Police are continuing to investigate this theft.
Saturday morning at 4:20 a.m. police received a report of a pickup truck stuck in the ditch behind the 5500 block of Pine Crescent with two males walking away from it. Police attended the scene where they located the 1995 green Ford F-150 with a canopy stuck in the ditch. Police quickly confirmed the truck had been stolen from a residence on Sahtaneh Road. The truck’s owner confirmed the vehicle had been left unlocked with the keys under the seat of the vehicle.
The week would not be complete without at least one impaired driver. Saturday October 12th shortly after midnight police stopped a white 1996 Ford F-150 pickup truck on 50th Avenue North. While speaking with the 33-year-old Fort Nelson woman driving the vehicle, police detected the odour of liquor inside the vehicle as well as on the woman’s breath. When asked about this, the driver advised police she had consumed one drink prior to driving.
At the request of police the driver provided a breath sample into a roadside screening device which indicated she had consumed too much liquor to be safely operating a motor vehicle.
As a result police issued the woman with a 24-hour Prohibition from Driving and impounded the vehicle.
Saturday morning at 7:48 a.m. police received a report of another vehicle being stolen.
Police were advised by the 27-year-old vehicle owner that when he returned to his residence on Pine Crescent the night before he parked his 2009 Toyota Corolla, leaving the keys inside the vehicle as he planned to go out again. When he awoke in the morning he discovered the vehicle was gone and reported the theft to police.
Very grainy CCTV footage of the theft shows what appears to be two males getting into the vehicle and driving off.
Several hours later at 3:05 p.m. police recovered the vehicle stuck in the mud at KM 7 of the Pipeline Road.
Police are looking
for a hit and run driver
This past Saturday at 3:00 p.m. police received a report from the owner of a red 2011 GMC Terrain that his vehicle had been struck by a hit and run driver while parked in front of Greyhound Bus station on 50th Avenue South. Police were advised the hit and run driver was driving a grey Chevrolet S10 pickup truck that backed out of a driveway right into the side of the complainant’s vehicle and then drive off without stopping.
A few hours later while police were conducting their usual traffic enforcement duties along Alaska Highway at KM 395 they encountered a 2010 grey Toyota Matrix clipping along at the rather tidy speed of 164 kms in the posted 100 km per hour zone.
Police issued the 54-year-old Fort Nelson woman driving with a $483 traffic ticket for excessive speed and impounding her vehicle for seven days.
Staff Sergeant Tom Roy
Officer in Charge
Northern Rockies Detachment

EDITOR’S NOTE – Until the result of the autopsy there will be no further news on the deceased man found in a vehicle parked at Loon Lake on October 5th, 2013.