COLBY-ABBOTSFORD POLICE LOG
_ July26-AnOwenmancalled to report a possible theft that occurred while he was washing his truck in Abbotsford. The complainant said he had taken a tool box out of the back end of his pickup truck and put it on the ground while he was washing his truck. He said he left the car wash without returning the toolbox to his truck, and when he went back to get it, the toolbox was gone.
The complainant said he contacted the car wash and was able to get the license plate number of the vehicle that pulled in after his truck left. The vehicle was registered to a man in Abbotsford. That is all of the information the officer was given at the time his report was filed.
_ July 26 - An officer was dispatched to a Colby gas station in reference to a man who was trying to get home to Minnesota. The officer met with the man who said he had been walking all night after getting kicked out of a vehicle. He said he had been helping some friends move when they got into an argument and left him on the side of the road. A gas station employee had already offered to pay for a bus ticket, but the bus was not due back until the following afternoon. The man said he planned on just walking around for the rest of the night. The officer provided him with a Salvation Army voucher so he could stay at the local hotel for the night.
_ July 27 - An officer responded to a Colby residence in reference to an animal complaint. The officer met with a man who said his daughter had seen a group of juveniles opening his rabbit cage and trying to get the rabbit out. The complainant said he later noticed that the rabbit was out of its cage. He did not know where the juveniles lived, but he had seen them walking around the neighborhood before. The officer advised him to buy a lock for the rabbit cage and to call the police right away if the juveniles return.
_ July 27 - An officer was dispatched to a Colby residence in reference to a neighborly dispute. The officer met with a man who said he had been working on his deck when his juvenile neighbor gave him the finger. The complainant said this neighbor has a history of swearing at him, and he would like to pursue charges.
The officer said that charges would not be pursued just because the neighbor gave him the finger. The officer offered to speak with the juvenile’s mother instead. The mother said the complainant stares at her daughter whenever she is outside, and that is how she expresses her emotions. Another family member told the officer that he has heard the complainant swear at the juvenile. The officer told the mother to have a talk with her daughter about using vulgar language and gestures. The mother agreed, but said she would not tell her daughter to stop giving their neighbor the finger. The officer advised her to ignore him to prevent any future confrontations.
The officer returned to the complainant and asked him if he had been staring at the neighbor’s daughter. He said he only glanced at her. The officer advised him to be nice to his neighbors and just smile and wave if he sees them. He also told him to consider putting up a fence.
_ July 28 - A woman called dispatch and said that her son had stolen her vehicle and was now possibly trying to break into her house in Abbotsford. She told an officer that her son had recently “gone crazy” and had been kicked out. The officer drove by the house but did not notice anything suspicious. He informed the complainant of his findings.
The officer also contacted the Wood County Sheriff’s Department, which is where the complaint said she had reported her vehicle stolen. The department did not have any stolen vehicle reports from the past three days, but a woman had called and said her son had taken her car from Abbotsford. The woman had been told to report the car theft to the Colby-Abby department. The officer attempted to call the complainant back, but was unable to get a hold of her.
_ July 29 - An officer was on patrol in Abbotsford when he ran the license plate of a vehicle on STH 13. The license came back as expired so he pulled the vehicle over and met with the driver and his passenger.
They both provided driver’s licenses, but the one belonging to the driver appeared to have a cropped photo. The name on the license was not on file through dispatch. When the driver was asked to write down his information, he gave the same incorrect name and date of birth.
The officer had the passenger exit the vehicle, and he asked her about the driver’s true identity. The passenger said they had been dating each other for years, and she did not realize he was using a fake name. The officer confronted the driver about his driver’s license not being real. The driver then wrote down his real name and date of birth.
The driver came back as not having a valid license. He was issued citations for driving without a license and obstructing an officer. The officer also spoke to the driver about the importance of not lying to police. He said he could be arrested in the future.
_ July 29 - An officer was patrolling Meadow Drive in Colby when he noticed a truck parked at the stop sign on East Monroe, with people walking around it. The officer met with a woman, who said her son had driven his truck into a ditch.
When he asked the son what happened, he said he and his friends had gone to a nearby gas station when the truck shut off and the steering wheel column locked up. He said he started to press the brake, and the truck drifted off into the ditch, spun a few times and then came to a rest. The son appeared to be in shock and was visibly shaking. The mother said her son had never been in an accident before. The mother was able to restart the vehicle and remove it from the ditch. It had not sustained any noticeable damage.
_ July 30 - An officer was on patrol in Abbotsford when he noticed a vehicle on Hemlock Street with very dark window tint and an expired license. The officer pulled it over and met with the driver. The officer could smell marijuana as he spoke to the driver, who denied having any drugs in the vehicle.
The officer deployed his K-9 for a free-air sniff, and the dog alerted to the presence of narcotics. A search of the vehicle revealed a vaping device and vaping liquid containing THC. The driver was cited for driving without a valid license and possession of drug paraphernalia.
_ July 30 - An officer was on patrol in Abbotsford when he ran the license plate of a vehicle on STH 13. The registration came back as expired, and the color of the vehicle did not match what was on the registration information.
The officer pulled the vehicle over and met with the driver, who said he was working on getting his registration switched and that the vehicle’s title was at home. Dispatch reported that the driver’s license had been suspended. The officer informed the driver that he would be walking his K-9 around the vehicle for a drug sniff. The driver asked if he could search his vehicle first. The officer asked him why he would need to do that. He said his mother had used the car last, and she may have left something behind. The officer told him that he did not want him digging around the vehicle. The driver then reached in the driver’s side compartment and retrieved a vape cartridge with the words THC on it. He also got a device out of the center console used for smoking THC wax.
The officer searched the vehicle and found nothing else. The driver was cited for driving with a suspended license and possession of drug paraphernalia. The passenger had a valid license so she switched seats and drove.
_ July 30 - An officer was on patrol in Abbotsford when he noticed an unoccupied vehicle at Shortner Park, four minutes after the park closed at 10 p.m. A male and female started walking toward the officer from the nearby playground equipment. The male party said he had seen the park’s sign but did not realize what time it was. He said they were there on their first date.
The officer ran the two parties’ names through dispatch, and the male party came back as having two warrants out of Clark County for driving while suspended. The total bond was $401, and the male party said he would be able to post the full amount. He was arrested and taken to the police station, where a friend arrived and posted $401. The male party was then released.
_ July 30 - Officers were dispatched to a possible break-in at a house in Abbotsford. When they arrived, they observed a vehicle parked outside the residence. As one of the officers approached the vehicle, it began driving away. The officer yelled at the driver, who stopped the car, got out and sat on the ground.
Officers spoke to the man, who said he was there in response to a medical emergency. He said his friend’s child had fallen out of his bed and hit his head, and he needed to go the hospital. The man said he came over to help, but two male subjects there told him to leave, so he was in the process of leaving.
One of the officers noticed two broken-out windows on the house, and he asked the male party about them. He said he didn’t know anything about the broken windows. While talking to the male party, the officer noticed that his speech was slurred and his eyes were glassy. When asked how much he had to drink that night, he said three cans of beer and two mixed drinks.
The officer had the male party do field sobriety tests, and he had trouble following instructions and maintaining his balance. He did not consent to a preliminary breath test. He was arrested and taken to the police station, where he registered a .08 bloodalcohol level on the breathalyzer.
Officers also spoke to two witnesses, one of whom had met the suspect at a local bar. The witness said the suspect started bragging about having an AR15 in his trunk and a pistol in his pants. The witness said he got worried and had the suspect drive him home.
Shortly after he got home, he heard glass breaking at the nearby house and saw someone trying to break in. He said the suspect started walking toward him, so he and the other witness drew firearms, pointed them at the suspect and told him to back up multiple times. They threatened to shoot him if he didn’t back up, and then he ran to his vehicle. They said police arrived just as he got into his vehicle.
The K-9 also alerted on the suspect’s vehicle, and several items that later tested positive for marijuana and meth were recovered as evidence. The suspect was cited for drunk driving, possession of drug paraphernalia, felony bail jumping and criminal damage to property.
_ July 31- An officer was on patrol in Abbotsford when he ran the license plate of a vehicle on West Spruce Street. The make and model on the registration did not match the vehicle, so the officer conducted a traffic stop.
The officer met with the driver, who said he was borrowing the vehicle from a friend and did not realize the plates were on the wrong vehicle. He admitted his driver’s license was revoked due to a drunk driving offense. Dispatch reported that the driver had two active warrants, including one for a felony probation violation. He was also supposed to have an ignition interlock device installed, but he did not.
The driver was arrested and taken to Clark County Jail. He was cited for driving after revocation, failure to install an interlock device, displaying false registration plates and driving without insurance.
_ Aug. 1 - An officer was dispatched to Colby gas station in reference to a gas drive-off. An employee said the driver had selected the “pay inside” option, but then drove off without paying for $30.75 worth of gas. The vehicle was licensed to a woman in Minnesota. The officer sent her a letter telling her to pay for the gas or face theft charges.
_ Aug. 1 - An officer was on patrol in Colby around 1:30 a.m. when he noticed a group of people standing outside a local gas station. He spoke to one of the individuals, who said her stepfather had just tried to kill her mother.
The officer spoke to the mother, who said she had gotten into an argument with her live-in boyfriend that night. She said she was outside her residence when the fight started, but she went inside with her kids and locked the door. She said her boyfriend, who was intoxicated, started hitting the door and then also kicked it. She said he broke off the piece of the door that had been locked with a chain and forced his way in, causing a minor injury to her foot.
The complainant said she and her kids ran to the nearby convenience store, and her boyfriend left in his pickup truck with an unidentified friend. She did not know where he may have gone. An officer and several Clark County sheriff’s deputies searched the area for the boyfriend, and they also got permission from the complainant to search the residence, but the boyfriend was not located.
The complainant and her kids were eventually returned to the residence after police confirmed that the boyfriend was not there. The complainant was told to contact police right away if her boyfriend returned.
