July 1
At 11:57 a.m., Clearwater RCMP received an abandoned 911 call from Little Fort. A male was on the line, asked for police and hung up. Const. Van Woudenberg called the number back and it went to voicemail. He recognized the caller by the voice, however.
The man returned the call a short time later explaining a male was at his house, set a fire at his place, smashed the window of his car and came at him with an axe. Const. Van Woudenberg arrived at the complainant’s residence in the 100 block of Ferry Road. The suspect male was gone on police arrival and the complainant indicated the male left approximately 10 minutes before.
The complainant showed Const. Van Woudenberg a lawn mower on fire, a smashed gate and the front window of his Cadillac, which had been smashed as well. He also showed the constable a garden ice scrapper which he stated was what the suspect male had come at him with. Photos of each were taken.
The complainant also discovered his dog was missing and provided the male’s first name. Police received another complaint about the same man.
Const. Van Woudenberg and Const. Klassen were directed to the fuel station in Little Fort. The suspect male was found in front of the fuel station, was arrested for assault, mischief, arson and public intoxication. A search of his person, incidental to his arrest, revealed a lighter in his pants pocket. He was then placed in the police vehicle.
The suspect male identified himself and police checks confirmed identification. He was provided his Charter rights, police warning and was transported to the Clearwater detachment and lodged in cells to sober up. Several hours later he was released on an undertaking with conditions.
Upon his release, the male became verbally confrontational with members. He was told to leave before further charges were laid, so he packed up his stuff and left. Investigation is ongoing with charges being submitted to Crown Counsel.
July 3
At 7:08 PM a 75-year-old Kelowna man called the Clearwater RCMP to report a collision on Highway 24 at Eakin Creek Road in Little Fort. The complainant advised that a red Toyota Tacoma did a U-turn on a curve, when a semi-trailer came around the corner in the opposite direction, colliding with the Tacoma. There was minor damage to the front bumper of the semi-trailer, but the rear end of the Tacoma was quite damaged, ripping the rear driver tire off and causing the canopy to come off as well. No injuries to anyone and an ambulance was declined.
Const. Klassen was busy with a different collision and didn’t get to this one until he had finished up with the other. He attended and spoke to the driver of the Tacoma, a 27-year-old Kamloops woman, who was coming from the Williams Lake Stampede and heading to Kamloops. She said she had made the U-turn on the corner as she wanted to go check out a road she had passed. While completing the U-turn the semi, that was heading west on Highway 24 (up the hill) came around the corner and hit her, pushing her vehicle into the ditch.
The local tow company attended and towed the Tacoma. Photos of the scene were obtained. An Alcohol Screening Device demand was read to the Tacoma driver and she was not impaired. A violation ticket was issued to her for performing a U-turn in a curve. She had one passenger in the Tacoma who was not injured.
Later at 7:14 p.m., a 24-year-old Edmonton man called the Clearwater RCMP to report a collision in the 2500 block of Highway 5 in Vavenby. The complainant said a white Infinity Q50 was westbound and hit the ditch.
Const. Klassen and BC Ambulance Service attended. A 39-year-old Surrey man was the driver who said he was en route from Edmonton to Surrey, travelling highway speeds when he fell asleep. He hit the gravel on the right and then over corrected and the vehicle went off road left, rolling and coming to a rest after hitting a BC Hydro pole. The only passenger was the 30-year-old registered owner of the vehicle, who was sleeping during the incident.
Both males were sore but didn’t go to hospital, and were cleared by the paramedics on scene. They both were wearing seat belts and the air bags were deployed. Impairment was ruled out. The vehicle was totalled, so was towed by our local tow company. A taxi attended to provide transport to Kamloops. Photos obtained of the scene were obtain while BC Hydro advised.
Clearwater RCMP responded to 52 calls for service this past week.
Sgt. G.D. Simpson is the detachment commander at the Clearwater RCMP Detachment. Anyone with information on a crime is encouraged to call Clearwater RCMP at 250-674-2237 or, to report anonymously, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
newsroom@clearwatertimes.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter