Law Enforcement
■ ■ Oct. 7 - An officer took a theft complaint from a laundromat in Abbotsford. The complainant stated they had been washing their clothes and had made a short trip out to their vehicle. The complainant returned and noticed another patron putting their clean clothes into a black garbage bag that had been placed in the complainant’s personal laundry basket. The complainant told the individual that the basket was theirs, and the individual grabbed up their belongings and left the building.
While gathering up their own clothes, the complainant then realized they were missing a pair of jeans and three pairs of underwear. They thought that the individual using their basket may have taken them. They were unsure if it was purposeful or not, but wanted a report filed either way and valued the jeans at $30 and the underwear at $10. The complainant stated they had contacted the business owner, who said they would check the cameras and call if they found anything.The complainant told the officer they would let them know if the clothes turned up later.
■ ■ Oct. 9 - An officer received a loose animal complaint from an Abbotsford residence. The officer met with an individual who was holding a small puppy. The individual stated they had not seen this dog before and did not believe anyone in the area had dogs matching its description. The puppy was taken to the Abbotsford kennel.
■ ■ Oct. 10 - An officer observed a black dog running west on Spruce Street in Abbotsford, dragging a long leash behind it. Recognizing the dog as belonging to a city resident, the officer took it to the residence and had its ownership confirmed. The dog was returned and a citation will be mailed to the owner for permitting an animal to run at large.
■ ■ Oct. 11 - An officer responded to a request for welfare check from an individual concerned about the whereabouts of their father. The individual stated that their father had dementia and had not returned home yet after having left the home earlier in the day to do an errand. The individual told the officer similar incidents had occurred where he forgot where and what he was doing and ended up driving around lost until strangers helped him get back home.
A tracking device has been installed on his vehicle so that if it happened again they would be able to locate him better. His location was shown to be in Edgar, which he had no reason to visit. As the individual was speaking with the officer, the father’s location was updated to being near a gas station in Abbotsford. The officer drove around the area checking for his vehicle. The officer then went back to the father’s house to see if he found his way back. As the officer arrived, they saw the vehicle pulling into the garage. The officer informed the individual and spoke with the father until they arrived.
■ ■ Oct. 11 - An officer received a call of a vehicle in the ditch on STH 29 in the eastbound lane, west of STH 13 in Colby. The officer located the vehicle well off the roadway at what looked like a perpendicular angle to STH 29. The vehicle was unoccupied and unlocked. The officer checked inside for any identifying information and located a summons for a preliminary hearing for a third drunk driving offense on the registered owner of the vehicle. Phone contact was attempted, but was unsuccessful. The vehicle was removed from the scene and a hold was placed on the vehicle for the owner to contact the officer before retrieving it. From the officer’s observation of the scene and the tracks leading into the ditch, it appeared that the vehicle had come from the east and was heading westbound in the eastbound lane of traffic on STH 29.
The officer received a call from the owner later that day, who stated they had only had three hours of sleep before needing to go into work, and must have fallen asleep and drove into the ditch. They told the officer they were running late, so they called their mother to pick them up and take them to work. Later they went back to get the vehicle and realized it was gone. The officer asked why they had not reported the vehicle in the ditch. The owner stated they did not have time and thought it would be tagged for removal within 24 hours. The owner stated they did not realize they had needed to call. The officer also informed them that it appeared that the vehicle had been going the wrong way based on the tire marks. The owner said they did not know because they had fallen asleep. The officer told them they would be receiving citations in the mail for failure to notify police of an accident and failure to keep the vehicle under control.
■ ■ Oct. 12 - An officer was at a residence in Colby for an unrelated incident when a female individual informed them of a text she had received from her ex-husband, stating he would be having welfare checks done on her kids since she would not let him talk to them. The individual stated this has been an ongoing issue with her ex, and before he went to prison, he had the police call on her numerous times for a welfare check while she lived in Owen. She stated he wanted control of their two daughters and would call for a welfare check whenever he did not get his way. The individual stated that she and her ex have some history, and wanted to inform law enforcement that he may request numerous welfare checks on her and her children since he had recently been released from prison .
■ ■ Oct. 12 - An officer was dispatched to an establishment in Colby in reference to a fight. Upon arrival, they met with the owner, who stated that an individual from a car threw a bottle towards a truck that was parked across the road. The owner was not sure why they received a call of a fight as no one had been hit by the thrown bottle and there hadn’t been anyone inside the establishment. The owner stated that the individual had been trying to start a fight inside and had been asked to leave. The individual then went into an alleyway on the north side of the building. The owner did not want the individual to be allowed back on the property.
The officer was unable to see any broken bottle fragments in the area near where the bottle had been thrown. A witness nearby gave a possible identity and address of the individual. The officer met with the individual at his residence, and he stated he was with his wife and had come home from the park. He refused to answer any more questions. The officer informed the individual that he was no longer welcome at the establishment and took a photo of the individual to confirm their identity with the establishment’s owner. The individual was warned for trespassing.
■ ■ Oct. 13 - A traffic stop was conducted on a vehicle in Colby observed by an officer traveling east on West Clark Street. The vehicle turned north onto Division Street, then proceeded to drive north in the southbound lanes of travel. The driver told the officer the reason they were driving the wrong way was because they had gotten confused when they turned onto Division Street. While speaking to the driver, the officer could detect a strong odor of alcohol coming from the vehicle. The officer asked where the driver was coming from. The driver stated they had been with family and admitted to drinking five beers.
The officer ran the driver’s information through the system and found that they had been residing in Abbotsford since at least February, making their out-of-state license no longer valid. The officer had the driver exit their vehicle. The driver consented to doing field sobriety tests as well as a preliminary breath test, which showed a blood-alcohol level of 0.095. The driver was placed under arrest for operating while intoxicated. The driver was issued citations for driving with a prohibited alcohol concentration as well as operating without a valid driver’s license and driving the wrong way on a divided highway.
■ ■ Oct. 15 - An officer was dispatched to a store in Abbotsford in reference to a sedan in the parking lot that was not leaving. Upon arrival, the officer did not see the vehicle in question. Two employees told the officer that they had called because a male individual had come into the store prior to closing and told one of the employees he would be giving her a ride home and would wait in the parking lot for her. The employee stated she had closed the store at 10 and noticed the individual was still waiting in the parking lot after she had told him she didn’t want a ride from him. She stated that he waited approximately 40 minutes after closing to leave.
The employee stated the male was a regular at the store and told the officer the name he had given her. The officer asked why he would ask to give her a ride. The employee stated that she had gotten a ride from him back in June or July, thinking it was a nice gesture, but she did not feel safe. She stated he had not asked to give her a ride since, but sometimes he would ask her on dates. She would tell him no and that she is currently in a relationship. Her coworker informed the officer that the male individual would ask other employees when the female employee would work next and they felt weirded out by the male’s actions.
They believed the male lived somewhere in Abbotsford, but weren’t sure where. The officer advised the employees to write down the license plate on the vehicle if they happen to see it again. The officer was unable to locate any records of the individual with the identification that was given.
