COLBY-ABBOTSFORD POLICE LOG

_ Sept. 27 - An officer noticed a vehicle on STH 13 with a defective driver's side mirror and multiple items hanging from the rear-view mirror, obstructing the driver's view. The officer pulled the vehicle over, and as he was approaching, he noticed the driver appear to hide something in the front waistband of her shorts. When the officer asked about this, the driver said she was just tucking in her shirt.

The driver denied having anything illegal in her vehicle. Dispatch reported that the passenger in the vehicle had a felony warrant for possession of methmaphetamine. The officer deployed his K-9, which alerted to the presence of drugs. Nothing was found on the driver when she was searched, but the passenger handed over a used syringe and a bag with white residue, and admitted to using meth. She was cited for possession for paraphernalia and arrested on the felony warrant.

_ Oct. 5 - An officer was dispatched to a Colby restaurant in reference to a counterfeit money complaint. The officer with the manager, who provided him with a fake $100 bill someone had used in the drive-thru on Oct. 2. The manager said there was only one transaction involving a $100 bill that day, and he showed the officer surveillance footage of the transaction. The officer was not able to see the customer’s face, but he or she was driving a tan Chevrolet Tahoe or GMC Tahoe. The counterfeit bill was taken as evidence.

_ Oct. 5 - An Abbotsford woman reported that she had been scammed out of nearly $2,900 by a computer hacker. The complainant said she was working on her computer on Oct. 1 when an orange pop-up window appeared and advised her that her computer was locked. A phone number was provided for her to call to unlock her computer.

The complainant said she called the number and spoke to three different men who told her that her computer had been hacked but no personal information had been stolen. She said she was tricked into providing her credit card number in order to unlock her computer, and she also confirmed the $2,900 charge as legitimate when her bank called to verify her purchase. The complainant said she had already notified her credit card company of the charge.

_ Oct. 6 - An Abbotsford man and his girlfriend came to the police station to report new threats made by old enemies of the complainant. The complainant said he had just gotten out of his prison, and his girlfriend had receiving online messages from one threatening to get him in trouble with his probation offi cer by making up false accusations. The complainant also told the officer about a group of men in Colby who do not like him. He claimed that one of them shot him in 2017, but the incident was never reported to police.

The officer told the complainant that he has nothing to fear as long as he behaves himself. The complainant told the officer that he has reformed himself and making good choices for the sake of his family.

_ Oct.6-AColbywomancalled to report a disturbing note she found taped to her apartment door. She said someone wrote “I am watching U” on an empty styrofoam container and taped it to her door in the hallway. She suspected one of her neighbors who doesn’t like her. The officer contacted the neighbor in question, and she said it was laughable that the complainant would accuse her of such a thing. She denied taping a note to the complainant’s door, and if she had a problem with the complainant, she would speak to her directly. She said it could have been one of the numerous men who go in and out of the complainant’s apartment.

_ Oct. 7 - An officer investigated possible ordinance violations at a residence on South Sixth Street in Abbotsford. The officer could see two pre-built sections in the lawn that were not attached to any portion of the building. There were also numerous other items stored outside, including a wheelchair, a plastic animal house, buckets, pipes, wood and food and beverage cart. The items were photographed, and a warning letter was sent to the property owner.

_ Oct. 7 - An officer was dispatched to a Colby residence in reference to a social media harassment complaint. The woman he spoke to said a former classmate of hers was making false claims about her on Facebook, claiming that the kittens she was selling would be “waste of money” due to vet bills. She also said this person lied about her home smelling like cat urine and feces.

At the complainant’s request, the officer looked around the basement where the three kittens and their mother were kept, and he did not notice any urine or feces smell. The officer said the only issue is that she was currently keeping more than the allowable number of cats under the city’s ordinance. The complainant said two of the kittens would be gone by the end of the week.

As to the Facebook messages, the officer said there was nothing he could do because no threats were made. He explained to her that people make untrue statements online all the time, and it’s up to people to find out the truth themselves. As an example, he said negative things are said all the time about police officers online. The complainant said she understood.

The officer did agree to contact the woman making the comments. The woman said she had already spoke to an officer from another department and was told she was within her rights to post the comments. She also noted that she was only passing along messages from others. The officer agreed with her that she is within her rights as long as she doesn’t make any threats.

The officer also got a call from the complainant’s neighbor about possible unsanitary conditions at the complainant’s house. The officer assured the neighbor that he had already checked into it, and there were no issues with odor or messes.

_ Oct. 7 - An officer was dispatched to a Colby residence in reference to a child custody issue. When he arrived, the offi cer met with a woman who was visibly upset and saying she was not leaving until she saw her daughter. She said it was her time to have custody of her daughter, but the father was not allowing it.

The officer went inside and spoke to the father, who said the mother had missed her time and their child was now sleeping. The father said custody was being handled by child protective services, and he had the officer speak to their case worker over the phone. The case worker told the officer that the mother was supposed to have a supervised visit with the child earlier that day, but she never showed up at the designated location, so the visitation was forfeited. The case worker also said the mother was not supposed to be at the father’s residence.

The officer spoke to the father, who said the mother had showed up at his place and was banging on the door, so he called the police. He said the mother has a history of drug abuse and refuses to take drug tests. He also wanted to know why she wasn’t being charged with trespassing or disorderly conduct for her actions. The offi cer agreed to review security footage from the complainant, but he did not think what he saw constituted disorderly conduct. He did find out later that she had been previously told about trespassing at the complainant’s residence.

The mother eventually left the residence peacefully after the officer spoke to her about his conversation with the case worker. She claimed her rights were being violated and that she could sue the county. The officer said that was her choice, but she needed to leave or she could be arrested for disorderly conduct.

_ Oct. 8 - An officer was dispatched to an Abbotsford gas station in reference to a gas drive-off. He spoke to a cashier, who said a male subject had pumped $19.78 worth of gas and then claimed he forgot his wallet, but he never returned. The cashier said he attempted to call the subject, but was unable to do so. The officer noted that the man’s license plate information indicated he had moved to Tennessee. The officer called the man’s phone number, but it was not taking messages.

_ Oct. 8 - An officer was dispatched to an Abbotsford residence in reference to a suspicious male subject looking through the windows and knocking on the door. The offi cer met with the man outside, and he said he was trying to speak with his estranged wife. He said he knows there is another man at the residence, and he doesn’t want him there.

The officer then made contact with the estranged wife, who said he had spoken to her husband when he came to the door earlier that night, but now she wanted him to leave. She said he has looked through her living room and bedroom windows before, and she wants him to leave her alone. The officer spoke to her about getting a restraining order.

The officer returned to the husband and told him that his estranged wife would like him to leave. He left without issue.

_ Oct. 9 - An officer responded to a complaint of two dogs running around loose and not being picked up after. The officer met with the dogs’ owner, and she acknowledged that her dogs to run around her yard and may occasionally go into her neighbors’ property. The officer advised her to keep the dogs on her property and to pick up after them. She apologized for any problems her dogs may have caused.

_ Oct. 9 - An officer was dispatched to a Colby residence to check for a juvenile runaway. Dispatch reported that a woman suspected that her teenage daughter was at the house. The teen in question came to the door when the officer arrived, and said she was ready to go. When asked why she had run away, she said she was helping a friend who ran away from a group home and needed help.

The officer also spoke to a male subject who was at the residence. He said he had picked the teen up in Marshfield the day before and let her use his guest room until she called her mom. He said he did not know she had been reported as a runaway. The teen was returned to her mother at the police station.

_ Oct. 10 - An officer was on patrol in Colby when he noticed a southbound vehicle traveling in the northbound lanes on STH 13. The officer turned around, activated his emergency lights and siren. The vehicle crossed over the median and continued south in the center of the southbound lanes. The vehicle swerved toward the shoulder, re-entered the lane of traffic and then came to an abrupt halt.

As the officer approached the vehicle, the driver was having a hard time rolling down his window. The officer had the driver exit the vehicle, and he could smell alcohol on his breath. The officer attempted field sobriety tests, but eventually took a preliminary breath test. The driver registered a .094 blood alcohol level and was arrested. His passengers were told they could walk home, and a tow truck was called to remove the vehicle.

The driver was cited for operating while intoxicated, driving without a valid license, driving on the wrong side of a divided highway and illegal crossing of a divided highway.

_ Oct. 10 - An officer pulled a vehicle over for having a headlight out. He met with the driver, who had a revoked license and a warrant for contempt of court. She was arrested and taken to the police station, where her husband came to post the $528 bond. She was cited for driving while revoked and released.

_ Oct. 11 - A Colby man came to the police station to report issues with his neighbors. The man said he lives in an upstairs apartment, and the woman below him shut off the water to his place. He said he spoke to his landlord about the situation, and the landlord told him to work it out with the other tenant, but he’s afraid of her becoming hostile toward him. He said the water shut-off is in the basement, and he would need to go through his neighbor’s apartment to access it. The officer said he would contact the man’s landlord and the other tenant and attempt to get the water turned back on. The officer called and left messages for both the landlord and the downstairs neighbor.