Law Enforcement
COLBY-ABBOTSFORD POLICE LOG
_ Dec. 24 - An officer spoke to a man about the theft of a snowmobile route sign from the area of East Elm Street and South Sixth Street in Abbotsford. The complainant said he had put up the sign at the intersection on the afternoon of Dec. 23, and 10:30 a.m. the next morning, it was gone.
The complainant suspected that the owner of the property had removed the sign. The officer contacted the property owner, who said he did not want the sign posted in his yard. He said it had been in an area where the public works crew plows snow. He offered to bring the sign to the police department, but the officer told him just to lean it up against a power pole on his land.
The officer called the complainant back and advised him to pick up the sign.
_ Dec. 25 - An officer was dispatched to a Colby residence in reference to a barking dog complaint. The complainant requested that an officer speak to the dog owner, as the barking was keeping people awake. She was not sure where the barking was coming from.
The officer checked the alley behind the complainant’s residence, but he did not hear any barking. He spoke to a man in the alley, who said he had heard barking for a short time, but it had stopped. He said it may have come from a nearby house where he says there are about six dogs.
The officer called the complainant back to see if she could get more information. She no longer heard any barking and wasn’t sure where it had come from. The officer told her to call back if the barking starts again.
_ Dec. 26 - An officer noticed a vehicle on STH 13 with a brake light out. The officer pulled the vehicle over and met with the driver. When asked if she had insurance on the vehicle, she said no because she had just purchased it from someone else. The officer could smell a light odor of marijuana as he spoke to the driver.
The officer returned to his squad to run the driver’s name through dispatch, and another officer arrived on scene so a K-9 sniff could be done around the vehicle. The dog alerted to the presence of drugs, and the driver was asked to exit the vehicle so it could be searched.
The officer found a Jolt-brand electronic weapon in the driver’s side door compartment. The driver was asked about it, and she said she got it as a Christmas gift. She acknowledged that she should probably not have it in her vehicle. She said she had gotten a permit to carry a concealed weapon about five years earlier, but she wasn’t sure if it had expired. The offi cer checked, and she did not have a valid conceal carry permit.
The officer also found a small amount of marijuana and some prescription pills in the vehicle. The driver said some of the pills belonged to her mother, and she also claimed she forgot about the marijuana, which was found inside a case inside a shopping bag. The marijuana, pills and electronic weapon were all confi scated.
_ Dec. 27 - An officer was dispatched to a Colby residence in reference to a traffic complaint. He met with a man who said he wanted to report speeding vehicles in the trailer park he lives in. The complainant said he doesn’t always notice the make and model of the speeding vehicles, but he says it happens throughout the week.
The complainant said his neighbor’s dog had been hit by a speeding vehicle, and the driver didn’t even stop. He asked the offi cer to set up a speed trap, but the officer said that would be difficult because his residence is located near a dead end. The officer advised the complainant to speak to the trailer court manager about putting in speed bumps or warning signs.
The officer sat in the area for awhile after talking to the complainant, but he did not see any traffic coming through the area. He told the complainant that he and other officers would do extra patrols during their shifts.
_ Dec. 28 - An officer went to a Colby residence to speak with a man and his wife about harassing phone calls he was receiving. The complainant said he’s been getting constant calls and texts from a man he previously knew in high school. He said the calls and texts were initially friendly, but they were getting increasingly aggressive and frequent. He said he received 22 calls between 2:00 and 2:11 a.m. that morning.
The complainant’s wife said she overheard one of the phone calls from this man, and it sounded as if he was sexually gratifying himself. The complainant said the man had also made a threatening comment about one of his friends. The complainant said he has tried blocking the man’s phone number, but the calls persist.
The officer advised the complainant to look into getting a restraining order. He also advised him and his wife to block the man on social media and not answer any unknown incoming calls. The couple wanted the man charged with harassment, but the officer said he would have to speak with him first.
The officer went to the man’s residence in Colby, but all the lights were off and no one would answer the door. The officer also called the man’s phone and left a voicemail for him to call back. The complainant’s wife later called the officer back and said the suspect had called her and apologized. She said he promised to stop calling, but then called a few more times later. She said she told him to stop calling and to leave her and the complainant alone. She said she’s not sure how he got her number.
The officer returned to the man’s house, but again, no one would answer the door. He also called and left a second voicemail message.
_ Dec. 28 - Officers responded to an Abbotsford residence in reference to a family disturbance. Dispatch said a man had called because his adult son was misbehaving and refusing to leave.
Officers arrived and met with two men who said the complainant’s son had run off. One of the officers went to find him while the other officer stayed to interview to the complainant and others at the residence.
The complainant said they were having a holiday gettogether that night when his son showed up and said he was there to retrieve some DVDs from the basement. The complainant said they have been concerned about his son’s mental well-being and they’ve had to put locks on several doors in the house to keep him from taking things without permission.
The complainant said he and several others followed his son around to make sure he didn’t take anything he wasn’t supposed to. He said his son became agitated at some point and refused to leave when asked to do so. He said his son also puffed out his chest at him and gave him a threatening look. He said his son did not leave until the police were called.
The officer also spoke to the man’s mother, who said he pinched her in the arm for no reason when he first came into the house. She said he often does this to her, even though she has told him to stop multiple times. She also said she was helping him clean his place the other day, and he nearly pushed her down the stairs.
Other family members also expressed concerns about the son’s mental well being, and one of them asked the officer about doing a Chapter 51 detention. The officer told them that he would be arrested for domestic disorderly conduct based on what they told him. He also advised the family to contact social services to arrange a mental health evaluation.
The son was arrested and taken back to the house so he could speak to his father before he was transported to jail. An officer also interviewed him at the police station. He denied all of the accusations against him and said it was all just “family drama.” The officer confirmed that he was not thinking about harming himself or others and also provided him with a phone number for contacting a mental health facility.
_ Dec. 29 - An Abbotsford man came to the police station to report a domestic disturbance. The complainant said he had dropped his two kids off at his ex-girlfriend’s house that day so she could spend some time with them, but he was reluctant to do so because she had previously been arrested for drinking and driving with her kids in the car and is currently on probation.
The complainant said when he returned to her place to pick his kids up, she started asking him for their birth certificates and other documents. He told her those documents were in a safe place and he refused to give them to her. He said she got angry and started yelling at him. He said she refused to let him take the children back.
The complainant said she then slapped him in the face and attempted to punch him with a closed fist. He said he turned away from her, and her fist hit him in the shoulder. He said he then left her residence to avoid escalating the situation. The complainant said one of his kids witnessed the altercation, and the other could probably hear it from a nearby room.
The complainant said he was worried about his kids’ safety and wanted to get them back. The officer said he would be going to her residence to arrest her for domestic abuse and advised the complainant to wait outside until she was in custody.
The officer went to the woman’s house, and she denied the complainant’s accusations. She kept trying to bring up child custody issues, but the officer said that was not why he was there. A probation hold was placed on her, and she was also arrested on suspicion of domestic battery and disorderly conduct. The complainant was allowed to retrieve his kids, and his exgirlfriend was taken to jail.
_ Dec. 29 - Officers responded to a report of an altercation between two people in a vehicle parked at a business in Colby. Dispatch said the vehicle had left the parking lot and was headed north on STH 13.
An officer pulled the vehicle and met with the man and woman inside. The male party said they had been arguing about relationship issues and decided to park in the business parking lot to talk. At one point, he said he tried getting out of the vehicle so he could take a walk, but his fiancée pulled him back in by the shoulder of his coat. He said aside from that, nothing physical happened.
The man’s fiancée told the offi cer the same version of events, and both parties said they were not afraid of anything else happening between them. The offi cer said he did not notice any lingering signs of tension, so he let them go without making any arrests. He also spoke to the woman who called in the complaint. She confirmed that all she saw was one party grabbing the other person’s shoulder.
