Police Beat goes to the dogs

Clear driving conditions continue to lead to excessive speeds along our highways as traffic enforcement members have observed and taken action to impound more vehicles this week.

One motorist was captured on radar driving in excess of 160km/h and had their vehicle impounded for seven days along with receiving a stiff violation ticket.

On Monday morning a Traffic Enforcement officer stopped another vehicle for speeding but while speaking to the driver, detected a faint odour of liquor on the driver’s breath and made the demand for a breath sample using an approved screening device (ASD). The driver provided a sample that produced a level just below a “Warn” reading. However, when the officer made further queries, he discovered that the driver was currently on conditions not to consume alcohol and subsequently, the driver was arrested for breaching those conditions.

This next driver wasn’t speeding at all as he was stopped in a parking lot along Airport Drive. The issue? He was driving with vehicle plates that were not only terminated, but were from another vehicle. The driver offered an explanation which may have been valid, but unfortunately his driver’s licence was not, as further investigation indicated that he was prohibited from driving which is a chargeable offence under the Canadian Criminal Code. The driver was ticketed and given a court date, while his vehicle was towed away and impounded.

Lost, found, broken into, or stolen

This past week, a wallet and cell phone that had been left behind by a guest at one of Fort Nelson’s local restaurants, was turned in to police and after making a few queries and phone calls, police were able to get in touch with the out-of-town owner who was grateful for the kindness and honesty of the A&W staff and for making an effort to get the property returned to him.

Over this past week, several tractor trailers have been the focus of thieves making away with licence plates and validation tags. Often in these cases the person committing the crime will replace the plate with another stolen plate so that the unsuspecting owner of the truck won’t notice for several days, buying the thief more time to use the newly acquired plate before it is reported as stolen. Truck owners and operators should keep an eye open for any suspicious persons lurking in and around their rigs.

Last Friday night, police received a report of a break and enter on 52nd Avenue after a resident returned home to find his front door and garage door open. The break-in appeared to have occurred over night and the thieves had since vacated with unknown items. Police investigation remains open at this time.

The walkers of Fort Nelson

If you are a fan of Zombies and the TV show, “The Walking Dead” don’t be alarmed if you see the occasional zombie-like person stumbling down the streets of Fort Nelson. On Thursday night police located one such person staggering down Spruce Avenue after receiving a complaint of a man yelling and screaming as he walked down the street.

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The man was still very vocal when police located him swaying down the road. The highly intoxicated male insisted that police “taze” him, but his demands were not met and instead he was arrested and given a safe place to sleep for the night.

Just a couple of nights later police encountered another man that had staggered his way right to the police detachment and rang the door bell repeatedly before an officer had a chance to respond only to be confronted by an inebriated, shirtless male with scratch marks on his body and wet pants, stating that he wanted to turn himself in. The intoxicated male became irate with police when questioned and would not provide further details regarding his condition. The man was lodged in cells for the night to dry off and dry out.

Drunk Drivers come in all forms:

In the early morning hours of Saturday, Police observed a snowmobile travelling down a sidewalk along 50th Ave N, and stopped it. The driver admitted to consuming alcohol and after given the breath demand provided a breath sample that resulted in a “Fail” reading. The driver lost his licence for 90 days, and his machine for 30.

Late Friday night after receiving a complaint, Police located an ATV near Chalo School. The rider had become stuck and when police approached him they could smell a strong odour of Liquor as the rider became aggressive with police. The male was arrested for Impaired operation of a motor vehicle and brought back to the Police detachment to provide breath samples into an approved instrument. Both samples indicated a blood alcohol level well above the legal limit of .08mg% in Canada and the rider was later released on a Promise to Appear in Court.

Another Snowmobiler was charged with Impaired driving in the Early morning hours of Sunday. The driver who was being accompanied by a second snowmobiler, appeared to either not notice the police vehicle, chose to ignore it, or simply had no intention of stopping until he became stuck and ran out of options. Once approached by police the driver was cooperative but the officer detected the odour of liquor on his breath leading to a breath demand and a “Fail” result. Further queries of the driver indicated that he was not a candidate for an Immediate Roadside Prohibition(IRP) and that he was to be served a 6 month driving prohibition. The snowmobiler was then arrested for Impaired operation of a Motor Vehicle and transported to the RCMP Detachment where he was found to have .180mg% and .190mg%, more than double the legal level of alcohol in his blood.

From the week of February 5, 2014

Clear Roads Lead to Stranded Motorists:

Taking advantage of the unseasonably mild weather in Fort Nelson through most of January, road crews have done a fantastic job of clearing the roads back down to bare asphalt. The question is, have they done too good of a job, causing unsuspecting motorist to accelerate uncontrollably. Such appears to have been the case for a couple of drivers during the past week. On Friday a Fort Nelson Traffic Member was able to assist a driver in bringing her vehicle to a safe stop along the Alaska Highway near Prophet River, after it had climbed to a speed of 124 km/hr in the 70 km/hr zone.

The very next day a very similar incident occurred when another vehicle was observed by a Traffic Enforcement unit travelling down Highway 77 at a rate of 130km/hr in and 80 km/hr zone. In both cases the drivers were issued violation tickets for driving at excessive speeds and their vehicles were impounded. Police are still looking into the connection between the clear highways and sudden acceleration phenomena.

All joking aside, please don’t let the clear roads fool you. There are still many icy patches that can be even harder to detect when the road appears clean. An unsuspecting motorist found this out the hard way near Prophet River just one day before that speeding vehicle was stopped in the same area. There was no indication of unlawful speed but when the vehicle drove over an icy section of road the result was a sudden loss of control causing the it to veer off the road and roll. The driver needed police and ambulance assistance as he was extracted from his destroyed vehicle and transported to Fort Nelson General Hospital complaining of neck and back pain.

The Tooth Hurts:

When a motorist operating his vehicle in a peculiar manner, was stopped on Sunday night near the Fort Nelson IGA, he told the officer that he had a sore tooth and had taken medication to ease the pain. The Officer was certain that the driver was telling the truth about taking something which led to police conducting a Standard Field Sobriety Test (SFST) that resulted in further suspicion of impairment. The Officer then demanded that the driver provide a breath sample into an approved screening device (ASD) which resulted in a “Fail” reading and confirmed the Officer’s suspicions. Be it from drug, alcohol or sleep deprivation, impaired driving will eventually get you or someone else killed or badly injured. Getting stopped by police, having your vehicle impounded for 30 days and your licence suspended for 90 days, is the least painful outcome, if the tooth be told.

Something Else to Blame on the mild weather:

Police have seen this week, how the milder weather has led to some led-footed motorist but could the weather also be blamed for a theft that occurred at a local Video Store? It would appear that Spring was in the air in Fort Nelson this past week when a young man entered a local movie rental store about an hour before closing. Plenty of time to pick out a good movie or two for the evening, but this particular young man had a certain taste and special desires that required extra time and care in making his selection. After spending about forty-five minutes combing through the hardcore adult videos, the whole time being recorded from cameras positioned in all four corners of the room, the frisky young fellow walked out with his selection tucked inside his coat. Police reviewed the video will paying a visit to the 20 year old male shortly.

The Police Beat Goes to the Dogs:

Police have not received any recent complaints of dogs misbehaving lately but there have been signs of their owners not entirely doing their part. One sign in particular can be seen along the trail running north of CW Carlson School. It is a friendly reminder for dog owners to be neighbourly and pick up after their pooches. With doggy waste bags and drop-off containers located along the trails, this should be any easy request for dog owners to honour. As a dog owner who walks these trails myself, I often wonder if people have been walking horses along the path. It might not seem so bad to leave the mess to freeze but if no one picks up after their pooch, just imagine what the Spring thaw will look (and smell) like. If that does not concern you and the thought of a bylaw ticket doesn’t worry you, consider this story;

A couple of summers ago, while I was working down South, our watch received a very distressed call of an assault that had just occurred. The assault in question? A neighbour who had observed the same person walking their dog by his property on a daily basis and never cleaning up after Rover, had finally had enough and decided to demonstrate his frustration by walking up to the dog’s owner and swiping the baseball hat from the man’s head, which the homeowner then used to scoop up the doggy doo before handing it back. I don’t recall if assault charges were ever forwarded or approved but I can only imagine that, given the choice, most of us would rather avoid such a nasty and humiliating experience. As humans, we have the ability and intelligence to think ahead and predict what tomorrow’s consequences might be for today’s actions (or inaction), without having to go actually step in to an undesirable experience. Through calls like this one, police officers sometimes get a little extra insight into the possible consequences that exist so I thought I would pass on this little nugget of knowledge.

Cst Robert Gossmannw