Thieves broke into two trailers in the Yellowhead Road & Bridge work-yard up at Steamboat and made away with approximately $5,000 worth of property. The break-in occurred sometime in the past two weeks but was just recently discovered by a company employee. Fort Nelson RCMP sent a Property Crime Examiner to the site and a number of finger-prints were identified and lifted for further analysis to be conducted by the RCMP Forensic unit in Fort St John. The investigation is ongoing.

On Wednesday, July 9th police and ambulance were called to a single vehicle crash that had occurred approximately 2 km east of Toad River. Police arrived on scene to find a badly damaged sedan with Colorado plates lying on its passenger side in the northbound ditch, facing south. The driver and all three passengers were transported to Fort Nelson General Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Statements taken at the scene indicate that the driver may have left the roadway after falling asleep. (See photos on this page).

Not far from where Wednesday’s crash occurred, police and ambulance were once again headed north up the Alaska Highway after receiving a request from ISPOT to locate a traveller who had activated his 911 spot beacon near Summit Lake. The call came on Saturday after the company had received repeated activations and were unable to make contact with the motorist. Responders were concerned that the spot beacon may have been activated due to a medical emergency after learning that the motorists were an elderly couple travelling back home to Texas; but the couple were found to be in good health. The spot beacon had been activated after the couple’s vehicle broke down and they were unable to obtain a cell phone signal to call for help. The couple were transported to Fort Nelson and their truck and trailer were towed back to town for service. The elderly Texan jumped for joy when he saw help arriving and told police that he had even climbed a tree attempting to gain a cellular signal.

Impaired Driver Stopped:

On Thursday evening police were alerted to a vehicle being driven by a person believed to be intoxicated. The vehicle was quickly located travelling on 49th St and followed into the Overwaitea parking-lot. Two officers were on scene an immediately detected the odour of liquor coming from the driver. After a breath sample was taken resulting in a “Fail”, the driver was given a 90-day driving prohibition and her vehicle was impounded for 30 days.

The Fort Nelson RCMP would like to remind folks to be extra careful when venturing out in the stifling heat that the entire province has been experiencing recently. Make sure to drink plenty of fluids and apply sunscreen, but most of all take care of those that depend on you for their well-being, namely young toddlers and pets. A pet or a child can get into serious trouble if left in a vehicle on a hot sunny day, very quickly. As a rule of thumb, anything over 15 degrees Celsius on a sunny day, can become a potential health hazard. At 30 degrees and higher, as Fort Nelson has experienced this past week, it only takes a matter of minutes before the inside of a vehicle becomes an oven. Take the kids in with you and leave the pets at home. Police have only received a couple of calls this summer, for pets left in a vehicle (none for children), and there have been no related injuries so you’re doing great Fort Nelson!

Police Beat For July 16th, 2014

By the Numbers:

Drug/Alcohol Related: 10 Assist General Public or other Agency: 10 Traffic related files: 8 Assault / Domestic disturbance: 7 Alarm Calls: 6 Mischief: 5 Warrants / Breach of Probation: 4 Property – Lost/Found: 3 B&E, Theft / Shoplifting: 3 Noise Complaint: 3 Threats / Harassment: 1 Total Calls for the Week 60

Constable Robert Gossmann Northern Rockies RCMP