Law Enforcement
_ April 19 - An officer was dispatched to a gas station in Abbotsford in reference to a gas drive-off. He met with a store employee who said someone had left without paying for $24.24 in fuel. She thought it was an honest mistake. Using the vehicle’s license plate number, the officer tracked the driver down in Colby and spoke with her on the phone. She said she told the cashier that she had gotten gas at the pump, but the cashier must not have heard her. She agreed to make arrangements to pay for the fuel.
_ April 20 - An Abbotsford woman came to the police station to report that someone had hacked her Instagram account and was blocking her from accessing it. She said the scammer had messaged her, asking for $50 to unlock the account. The complainant said she was concerned about the scammer accessing her financial information and ruining her reputation by posting inappropriate content under her name. She said she had already contacted Instagram twice about taking the account, but it was still up.
An officer told her that she could have her bank account and credit cards changed if she was worried about identity theft. He said the police department does have the resources to track down the scammers, which are likely located in another country. The officer told her to inform the department of any fraudulent activity on her credit cards or bank account.
_ April 21 - An officer met with an Abbotsford resident who was reporting a computer scam. The complainant said his computer had frozen while his wife was using it, and he was trying to unfreeze it when a popup directed him to call a phone number to fix the problem. He called the number and spoke to a woman who had him install some apps so she could access his computer remotely. The woman also asked him for credit card information so he could pay for the services. The complainant said he provided a credit card number, but his credit card company flagged the transaction and stopped it before it could go through. He said the woman he called kept trying to sell him a yearly subscription service for $499 per year. He said he hung up on the woman but he kept getting return calls from the same number. The complainant said he was not out any money but he wanted the police department to know about the scam.
_ April 21 - An officer met with an Abbotsford woman in reference to a traffic complaint. The woman said she had picked her kids up from school earlier that day, and as she was traveling down Butternut Drive, she encountered a vehicle parked partway in the road, so she went around it. The complainant encountered another vehicle going the other way, and the driver honked at her and shook his hand at her. She recognized the other driver as a neighbor that her family had previous problems with. Given this history, she was worried about the repercussions of the incident.
The officer said no laws were broken, but he agreed to speak to the neighbor. The officer met with the neighbor, who remembered honking his horn at the complainant because her vehicle was coming right at him. He said he recognized the complainant after the fact, but he didn’t want to have anything to do with her or her family. The officer advised him to avoid any conflicts with the complainant or her family.
_ April 22 - An officer was dispatched to an Abbotsford address in reference to a juvenile runaway. He met with a woman and her daughter, who were standing out on the sidewalk. The officer asked the daughter what had happened that night. She said she was sitting on the couch, about to start her homework, when she got distracted by a YouTube video. Her mother asked her what she was looking at, and in response, she closed the video. She said her mother grabbed her laptop computer out of her hand, and during the exchange, she pushed her mother in the chest. The daughter said she then ran downstairs and locked herself in her room. She said her father came and knocked on the door, saying that she would be going to jail that night because she hit her mother in the chest. The daughter said she got scared, climbed out of her bedroom window and started running away. She said her parents eventually caught up with her in their truck.
The officer also spoke to the mother, who provided the same basic story as the daughter. She said it did hurt when her daughter pressed into her chest. The officer told the daughter to go home with her parents. He also provided them with information to contact social services.
_ April 22 - An officer was dispatched to West Butternut Street in Abbotsford in reference to a dog running loose. He met with a woman who said she accidentally let a small black dog into her house. The officer took the dog back to the police station and shortly thereafter, he was told that a man was looking for his dog. The man came to the station to claim his dog, and he was warned about allowing it to run loose.
_ April 22 - An officer was dispatched to an Abbotsford residence in reference to a disturbance. He spoke to a woman who said her live-in boyfriend had taken their child to Owen without her permission and he was driving a vehicle that does not belong to him. The complainant said the incident started when they were out shopping and her boyfriend started banging his fists on the windows of the car. The complainant said they drove back to their house in Abbotsford, but her boyfriend wanted to go to a birthday party in Owen. She said he took their child in a vehicle that belongs to someone at their residence.
When the officer asked if he had ever done anything like this before, she said two weeks earlier, he had thrown her smartphone at a picture frame, and both the phone and picture broke. While they were speaking, the officer was informed that a Clark County deputy had stopped the boyfriend in Owen. He was arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct and property damaged. The officer went to Owen and took the boyfriend into his custody. He explained to the boyfriend that the property damage charge was related to the cell phone incident from two weeks prior. The boyfriend denied ever throwing a cell phone at a picture frame. He was transported to Clark County Jail.
_ April 23 - An officer was dispatched to a local nursing home in reference to a sexual harassment complainant. He spoke to a nurse about a former co-worker who had continually harassed her and another employee. The complainant said the suspect would follow her into rooms, close the door behind him and make excuses to touch his body against hers. She said she would push him away and tell him that she was uncomfortable. The complainant said he would also rub her back while they were both at the nursing station, even though she would tell him to stop. She also noted that the suspect made comments about how he had beaten up his exgirlfriend.
The officer spoke to another employee at the nursing home who had similar experiences with the suspect. He advised both complainants on how to get a restraining order and told them to call the police if he ever showed back up at the nursing home.
The officer contacted the suspect, who denied all of the allegations against him. He became agitated and said he would be getting a lawyer.
_ April 24 - An officer was traveling southbound on STH 13 in Colby when he observed a vehicle do a rolling stop at the stop sign on Park Street before turning north onto the highway. The officer turned his squad around, caught up to the vehicle and started his emergency lights. The vehicle activated its turn signal but continued northbound until it pulled onto Hornet Drive and came to a stop. The officer met with the driver, who had glossy, bloodshot eyes. The officer could also smell alcohol coming from inside the vehicle. When asked how much he had to drink, the driver said he had four beers. The officer looked into the vehicle and saw four unopened beer bottles on the passenger’s seat.
Dispatch reported that the driver had a revoked license with one prior drunk driving conviction. The officer asked the driver to hand him an open bottle on the floor of the vehicle. While the driver was attempting to hand the bottle to the officer, he poured the beer on himself and the driver’s side door. The officer grabbed the bottle and dumped the rest of it out. A deputy who arrived on scene and ran his K-9 around the vehicle, and it alerted to the presence of narcotics. A search of the vehicle did not uncover any contraband.
The driver underwent field sobriety tests, and had trouble maintaining his balance and following instruction. He also submitted to a .183 bloodalcohol level. He was arrested and taken to the police station, where he registered a .17 BAC on the the breathalyzer. He was cited for drunk driving (second offense) and driving while revoked and then released to his wife.
_ April 24 - An officer was passing through the intersection of STH 13 and Spruce Street in Abbotsford when he observed a vehicle run a red light. He activated his lights and pulled the vehicle over on East Oak Street. The officer met with the driver and immediately noticed several beer bottles lying on the floor of the passenger’s seat. The driver also had watery eyes and slurred speech. The driver said he had four beers at his friend’s place in Abbotsford and was on his way back to his home in Dorchester. A K-9 deputy arrived on scene, and the dog alerted to the presence of narcotics, but a search of the vehicle uncovered nothing illegal.
The driver agreed to do field sobriety tests, and he had a hard time following instructions. He also provided a sample for a preliminary breath test, which showed a blood-alcohol level of .179. He was arrested and taken to the police station, where he registered a .12 BAC on the breathalyzer. He was cited for drunk driving and failure to stop for a red light and then released to a sober party.
