COLBY-ABBOTSFORD POLICE LOG

_ June 3 - An officer responded to a theft report at an Abbotsford residence. The complainant said someone stole a metal lounge chair and a two-person swing from her yard, sometime between November of last year and that date. She said she put the items alongside her home for the winter, and now they’re gone.

The complainant was in the process of painting some other patio furniture at the time, and she said the stolen items were similar in appearance. The officer photographed the items she was painting for reference.

The complainant called back on June 8 and reported that someone had also taken a backpack and wallet from her vehicle. She also reported that a decorative bicycle was missing.

_ June 3 - An officer met with the caretaker of the former Shopko building who wanted to report the theft of a bike rack from near the entrance. The following the day, the complainant called back and said the bike rack had been moved to the other end of the wall near some businesses that are still open.

The complainant also showed the officer a bike that had been abandoned in some bushes on the property. The bike appeared used, with a torn seat and rust. The officer left the bike at the store until June 8, but no one claimed it, so he took it to the city’s old recycling center for storage.

_ June 4 - An officer was dispatched to an Abbotsford business in response to a theft complaint. He met with the business owner, who said that five reels of copper wire had been stolen. He valued the wire at 30 cents per foot, and said each reel had between 190 and 360 feet of cable. The complainant said he would be placing cameras on the lot, and he also requested extra patrols.

_ June 6 - An officer responded to a report of a drunk man lying on the sidewalk in front of a woman’s apartment in Abbotsford. The woman said she was outside with some friends when the man came over from another apartment. She and her friends didn’t know him and didn’t want him there, so she went to the apartment he came from and tried to get his friends to come and get him.

Thecomplainantsaidtheman had fallen and was now passed out in front of her door. When the officer arrived, the man was snoring on the ground, and spit was foaming from his mouth. The officer was unable to wake him up or get his attention, so an ambulance was called. EMTs administered narcan and took him to the emergency room.

While the man was being medically assessed, the officer found his wallet to identify him. An assistant manager of the apartments arrived and offered to help. She and the officer went to speak to someone at the apartment where the man came from. It was clear that this other man had also been consuming alcohol, and he didn’t provide any information about what happened.

_ June 7 - An officer met with the maintenance man at an apartment complex in Abbotsford regarding a backpack he found in some trees. He initially thought it belonged to a tenant, but he was unable to identify the owner. The backpack contained several receipts, a hotel door key, and a brochure suggesting that someone had taken a trip to Philadelphia in April. There was also a bottle of Metamucil, men’s hair gel, dental floss, Dramamine pills, hand sanitizer and essential oils.

The backpack matched the description of one recently reported stolen by a tenant. The woman came to claim her backpack. She said it was missing a wallet with some cash inside and a hairbrush. The maintenance man said he would check the surveillance footage for any suspicious activity. He also mentioned that he found a mountain bike on the property that he thought had been swapped for another bicycle.

_ June 7 - An officer spoke with a Colby man in reference to an identity theft complaint. The complainant said he had been contacted by the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) and told that he needed to repay $5,738 in unemployment benefits, even though he had never been unemployed and did not file for benefits.

The complainant said the DWD informed him that the money had been deposited into a bank account in late June of 2020. He said he was also directed to file a police report. Because the DWD was working on the case, the officer did not conduct any further investigation but he did give the complainant some general guidance about preventing identity theft.

_ June 7 - An officer was dispatched to an Abbotsford residence in reference to a domestic disturbance. The officer met with a woman who said she had just arrived home when the exgirlfriend of the man she was dating showed up and forced her way into the home. The complainant said the woman immediately attacked her, punching, slapping, scratching and pulling her hair. She said the woman also threw a glass candle jar at her head and grabbed a curtain rod and started swinging it at her. The woman also flipped an end table toward her.

The complainant said she was yelling at the woman to stop hitting her, but after the attack continued, she started hitting back. She said she hit the woman about three times before she ran out the door and left. The complainant said the woman had broken in through a window about a month earlier and attacked the man she is dating.

The complainant said she had previously lived with the woman in Medford for about two months. Because of this, the offi cer had her fill out a domestic abuse worksheet.

Dispatch reported that the suspect had also called to report that she was attacked, so a deputy was sent to her home in Withee. The deputy brought her to Abbotsford so the officer could interview her. The woman said she was concerned about her ex-boyfriend and that is why she had gone over to his house. She said she was just about to call out his name when she claims the complainant attacked her. She repeatedly said the complainant is bigger than her and she felt helpless.

The officer confronted her about text messages she had sent to her ex-boyfriend, urging him to kill himself. She said she was an emotional wreck when she wrote those messages, but had no explanation for them. She denied breaking in through the window in the past and threatening the complainant.

The suspect was arrested for disorderly conduct, battery and criminal trespassing and taken to Marathon County Jail.

_ June 8 - An officer met with an Abbotsford woman in reference to a phone scam. The woman said the caller had told her that they were going to cancel her Social Security because she had eight or nine accounts outside the county. The caller, who claimed to be from the DEA, also said a car registered to her had been found with drugs in it.

The complainant said she followed the caller’s directions to purchase three Google Play cards worth $600 and provide their codes over the phone. She said the whole transaction had occurred that morning. The offi cer told her that she had likely been the victim of a scam and that it would be difficult to track down the people responsible.

The officer tried getting information through Google about the card’s account balances, but he was unable to do so himself, so he advised the complainant to try herself.

_ June 9 - An officer investigated reports of unregistered vehicles at two homes in Colby and ordinance violations at two homes in Abbotsford.

At the first house on South Main Street in Colby, the officer saw three vehicles, including one that did not have rear license plates. At the second property on East Clark Street, the officer saw two vehicles with registrations that had expired in 2018. The officer noted that the vehicles had been on the property for longer than 10 days. At a house on North Second Street in Abbotsford, the officer saw a refrigerator near the curb, with tall grass growing around it. A neighbor said it had been there for over a week. At another house on Second Street, a truck with expired plates and grass growing around it was observed.

Photographs were taken at each of the properties, and warning letters were sent to the owners.

_ June 10 - Several officers assisted the West Central Drug Task Force in executing a search warrant at a home in Abbotsford. Methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia were seized, and a male suspect was arrested. Two of his brothers who lived at the residence were brought to the police station for questioning.

Both men agreed to answer questions but said they had no idea their brother was selling drugs out of their house. They also gave police permission to search their phones, but no useful information was found. The two were then released.

_ June 10 - An officer spoke to a woman about a child welfare complaint in Abbotsford. The woman said she had been told that a four-year-old girl had been left in a car from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. while her mother and the mother’s boyfriend were inside local bars. Family members were also concerned about the mother’s boyfriend being involved in drugs. The child’s aunt wanted to take custody of the child that day, but the officer said that would not be legal without the mother’s permission. He agreed to go to the child’s house, along with the family members, for a welfare check. When they arrived, the officer said the child appeared to be happy and the apartment was clean. The family members started speaking to the child’s mother, but due to a language barrier, the officer could not understand what was being said. The mother was visibly upset and crying.

The officer then spoke to the mother alone and said he was just there to make sure her child was OK. The mother said she had agreed to let her child go with the child’s aunt, but she did not want to. The officer went back inside and told everyone to leave, as he was not going to let them bully the mother into giving up her child.

The child said she wanted to go with her grandmother. The mother said it was OK if her daughter went with her relatives for two days. After the child and her relatives left, the officer spoke to the mother and her boyfriend about the concerns that had been reported. He told them that he was notifying social services about the complaints.

_ June 11 - An officer spoke to the director of the Colby Community Library in regards to the theft of library materials. One of the books was originally due on Aug. 5, 2019, and the library had sent a warning letter on Jan. 12, 2020, stating that law enforcement would be contacted if the book was not returned.

The officer called the mother of a child who had checked out the book and never returned it. The mother immediately became defensive and said her daughter had already paid the $13 she owed for the book. The officer suggested that she contact the library to discuss the issue. She said she didn’t like the “law enforcement threats” and would pay for the book again if needed. Before the conversation ended, the mother said she would be filing a complaint against the officer.

The officer also followed up on five other books that had been checked out from the library and not returned. The books were originally due on Jan. 20 of this year, and a warning letter was sent on March 30. The officer called the mother of the child who had checked out the books and left her a voicemail message.

_ June 11 - An officer responded to a report of a child walking on STH 13 near Oak Street in Abbotsford. When the officer arrived, he noticed a small boy walking along the curb of the highway. The officer approached him, and the boy said he was headed to the supermarket. The officer told the boy that he had already passed the grocery store, and he offered to give him a ride there.

At the store, the officer got help from a Spanish-speaking employee so he could get more information from the boy. The boy was not able to easily recall his parents’ names or where he lived. Dispatch reported that the boy’s grandmother had called after she couldn’t find him. The boy, determined to be age 5, was returned to his grandmother.

_ June 11 - An officer was driving on Pine Street in Abbotsford when he noticed a vehicle in front of him with an expired license plate. He pulled the vehicle over and met with the driver, who admitted he did not have a driver’s license or proof of insurance.

The officer ran the driver’s name through dispatch, and he came back as having a revoked license and warrants out of Dane County and Marshfield. The driver was arrested on the warrants, and he was brought to the police station, where he posted $200 to be released. He was also cited for driving with a revoked license, driving without insurance and non-registration of an automobile.

_ June 12 - An officer responded to an alarm going off at a business in Abbotsford. The officer didn’t notice anything suspicious when he arrived. All of the doors and windows were closed and secure. The key holder was contacted, but he was four hours away, so he was not going to come to the scene.

The officer noted that he had responded to the store multiple times for the same back door alarm. Later that day, he stopped back at the store and spoke to an assistant manager who said he may be able to respond in case of future alarms.

_ June 12 - An officer was dispatched to a Colby residence in reference to a disturbance. The officer met with a woman who said she was in the process of moving in when her ex-boyfriend showed up unexpectedly. She said he pushed the bathroom door open while she was using it, and also ripped a shower curtain off the hooks. She said he then took her friend’s cell phone and left.

The complainant said her ex was very drunk when he arrived. The officer located several empty beer cans and a 12pack on the floor of the kitchen. When the officer picked the box up, he noticed all of the cans inside were empty. The complainant claimed the beer belonged to her ex, but the officer suspected that he was not getting the full story.

The officer went to the ex-boyfriend’s home in Colby, but he was not there, so the officer returned the following day to speak with him. He denied that he had been at the complainant’s place the day before. When asked about her friend’s phone, he said it been left in his car by the friend, who borrowed it to help the complainant move. He said he had since returned the phone to the complainant’s friend. The ex said he has not had any direct contact with the complainant since she was arrested.

The officer returned to the complainant’s house and confirmed that her friend’s phone had been returned. The officer reminded her that she had a nocontact order with her ex and that she should not have any contact with him.

_ June 13 - An officer responded to a report of a man who had fallen down and was laying on Pine Street in Abbotsford. The caller did not want to approach the man, and while the officer was en route, the caller said the man had gotten back up and was walking again.

The officer met with the man, who had no injuries but was clearly under the influence of alcohol. When the officer ran his name through dispatch, he came back as having a body-only warrant out for driving with a revoked license and ignition interlock issues. He was arrested and taken to Clark County Jail, where a preliminary breath test showed a bloodalcohol level of .208.