Clearwater RCMP responded to 24 calls for service this past week including a report of a punched out vehicle window, attempted theft of fuel and a semi in the ditch near Avola.
On Nov. 21 at 3:14 p.m. a local man called the RCMP to report a mischief incident in the 50 block of Blanchard Road in Clearwater.
Sgt. Grant Simpson, detachment commander for the Clearwater RCMP, said the complainant reported that sometime in the early hours of the morning, between 2:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m., someone punched out the driver side window and punched the front passenger window of his Ford Ranger three times.
"The B.C. plated vehicle was parked in the driveway and not insured," Simpson said, and added that Const. Meyer contacted the complainant to forward photos of the damage to the police, which he did. The complainant will also review his trail cameras to see if there is any footage of a suspect. The investigation is ongoing.
Sgt. Simpson reported that on Nov. 29 at 6:41 a.m. Const. Meyer was dispatched to a suspicious vehicle report of theft of fuel at Trutch Road in Clearwater.
“A business owner reported that one of his employees had advised him that a long school bus with blacked out windows, and a B.C. plate was parked at the gravel pit. When asked if they were associated to the bus they ran off and drove to their current location. The bus is registered to a 22-year-old male out of Ft. St. John. Const. Meyer located the bus, which appears to be lived in with a dog inside. No one answered his knocks on the door. A neighbour advised that the bus had been in the area before,” said Simpson.
He explained that Const. Meyer spoke with a resident in the 100 block of Trutch Road. She advised that the males associated to the bus were her ex-boyfriend’s son out of Nelson, B.C. and a friend from Blewett. B.C. They were at her residence until midnight, then left and she was surprised the bus was back.
The Sgt. said, “Police checks showed the boys as suspects on a previous theft file two days earlier in North Okanagan. The business owner reported a lock cut off the chain at the gravel pit and some fuel was stolen from an excavator on site. Surveillance obtained along with a witness statement from the business employee. Later that night, Const.Tobin and Const. Meyer located one of the males who had purchased the bus from the Ft. St. John male and had prefilled out transfer papers that were not yet completed. The bus he was driving was almost on empty, and there were no fuel cans filled in the bus and no hoses observed inside.”
Simpson said the driver “spontaneously uttered” to police that he had attempted the theft of fuel but was caught before the act so took off. Const. Tobin conducted a vehicle inspection with the driver and once that was completed and illegal plate covers were removed, the males were advised to immediately leave town. The driver reported that he was going to be heading back to Nelson. Photos and surveillance video were attached to a DVD on the police file as were police checks. The investigation is ongoing.
Simpson also reported that on Nov 30, at 4:27 p.m. a 31-year-old Grand Forks man called to report that he was north bound on Highway 5, roughly five kilometres north of Avola when his tractor owned by a transport company out of Chilliwack went into the north bound ditch. His trailer swung across the highway, before coming to rest on the highway, blocking both directions.
“The local heavy towing company attended and pulled the tractor back onto the highway at which time it was able to continue on to Avola to be towed at a later time,” said Simpson, adding that Const. Tobin issued a notice to have the unit inspected to ensure no damage due to underside rubbing on the dirt bank.
