Colby-Abbotsford Police

L og

n Oct. 18 - An officer was dispatched to an Abbotsford business for theft complaint. The officer spoke to a manager who said the business had towed a service truck to their lot on the previous Friday after it was involved in a traffic accident. The manager said someone from the company that owned the truck noticed that two spools of copper were missing.

The officer contacted someone from the service company. He said someone must have stolen on the wire while it was sitting in the lot over the weekend. He estimated the value of the wire at $500.

The business that towed the truck did not have any security cameras, and the manager did not know who may have taken the wire. He requested extra patrols around the business.

n Oct. 18 - An officer was on patrol in Colby when he ran the registration of the vehicle in front of him. The registered owner of the vehicle came back as having a felony body-only warrant for sexual assault/ child enticement. The officer pulled the vehicle over and met with the driver, who said he did not know he had a warrant. Dispatch confirmed the warrant, and the driver was taken into custody and transported to Marathon County Jail.

n Oct. 18 - An officer was driving on Pine Street in Abbotsford when he noticed a vehicle cross over into the opposite lane of traffic, nearly striking the curb. As the vehicle approached the intersection with North First Street, while still in the wrong lane of traffic, the driver turned on his right turn signal and crossed back into the right lane of traffic.

The officer pulled the vehicle over and met with the driver. The officer noticed a clear garbage bag on the floor full of empty beer cans. There was also an open can of alcoholic lemonade on the passenger’s side floor. The driver had the smell of alcohol on his breath, his eyes were bloodshot and his speech was slurred. He admitted to drinking a can of hard lemonade and three cans of beer. He did not have an answer for why he was driving in the wrong lane of traffic.

Dispatch reported that the driver’s license was revoked due to an alcohol violation, and he was not allowed to drive with a blood-alcohol level over .02. The driver agreed to do field sobriety tests, during which he showed signs of intoxication. The driver also agreed to submit to a preliminary breath test, showed a blood-alcohol content of .102. He was arrested and taken to the police station, where he was cited for drunk driving (fourth offense), driving while revoked and warned for the lane deviation and driving without proof of insurance. He was taken to a hospital for a blood draw and then transported to the Clark County Jail.

n Oct. 19 - An officer was dispatched to a Colby bank in reference to a scam complaint. The officer met with the complainant, who said he was at a local gas station when he was approached by a Middle Eastern man who said he was selling gold. The complainant said he was holding gold necklaces and told him the gold was worth a lot of money. He said the man also pulled out a Rolex watch and two gold rings and offered to sell the items to him for $20,000.

The complainant said he wanted the gold, so he gave the man $400 in cash out of his wallet. He said he had to get the rest of the money from his bank, so the man agreed to follow him there. The complainant said he brought the gold into his bank and told the teller he needed to take out money to buy more. One of the bank employees overheard him and told him he was likely being scammed. When the complainant pointed out the man selling the gold, the man took off from the bank, leaving through an alley. The complainant said the man was driving a silver-colored SUV, but he could not provide any further details.

The officer spoke to the employee, who said they got a picture of the suspect’s Chevrolet Tahoe from the bank’s security, but it didn’t pick up the license plate. The complainant showed the officer several necklaces, two rings and a watch, but they did not appear to be real gold. The complainant said he just wanted his money back. The officer checked the area, but was not able to locate the suspect’s vehicle.

n Oct. 19 - An officer was dispatched to a Colby residence in reference to a disturbance. The officer spoke to a man who said he had been hired by a landlord to install a furnace at a rental property. He said a female tenant let him into the house and everything was going fine until the male tenant got home. The complainant said the male tenant started yelling at him, saying he doesn’t want him doing any work until after 5 p.m. or on the weekend.

The complainant said the tenant threw some keys, but not directly at him, and also called him racial slurs. The complainant said he grabbed his tools and left because he didn’t want to be treated liked that. The complainant said he called the landlord, who advised him to file a police report.

The officer spoke to the landlord, who said he texted the tenant two days earlier to let him know that someone would be there to install a furnace so he would have heat for the winter. The officer also spoke to the tenant, who said he didn’t want the complainant there before noon because the female tenant was still sleeping then. He insisted that he never raised his voice and only spoke politely. He said the landlord never sent him a text or called him about the furnace installation. The officer advised him to call the landlord to speak about any scheduled work at the residence.

The following day, the landlord called another officer and requested a civil standby. Based on the prior day’s events, he said he was evicting the tenant and he wanted an officer there when the eviction notice was delivered. An officer stood by as the eviction was given to the tenant, and everything stayed civil.

n Oct. 20 - An officer responded to a 911 hang up call in Colby. The officer went to the residence and met with a woman and a group of juveniles. When the officer asked who had dialed 911, the woman turned to one of the male juveniles and accused him of calling while she was at work. The male juvenile responded by saying “Did I?” The woman said the male juvenile and his older brother had been fighting. The juvenile said “he pulled a knife on me” and “he was going to put it in my throat.”

The officer spoke to the older brother first. He said he was cooking supper with his girlfriend when his younger brother grabbed the bottom of the blender and threatened his girlfriend. He said his younger brother also grabbed a knife and pointed it toward him and his girlfriend. The older brother said he was also holding a knife because he was cutting tomatoes, so he pointed his knife back at his younger brother and told him to “f off.” He said his younger brother then went upstairs.

The officer next spoke to the younger brother, who said he was putting the dishes away when he got into an argument with his brother’s girlfriend. He said his brother didn’t like the way he was talking to his girlfriend, so he pointed the knife at him. The younger brother denied ever having a knife in his own hand. The officer also spoke to the girlfriend, who said the younger brother threw a tape measure and a silverware organizer at her. He said both brother had knives in their hands at point, but neither of them acted on their threats.

The officer informed the mother that he would be referring the younger brother for disorderly conduct based on his behavior. She understood and said her son already has a social worker due to past incidents with his siblings. The officer also spoke to the older brother, who agreed to spend the night at a friend’s house to avoid any further confrontations. n Oct. 21 - An officer was notified of a woman working in Abbotsford who had an active warrant out of Marathon County. An officer went to the woman’s place of employment and met the woman in question. She said she had been checking her mail, waiting for something from the courts, but she never received anything. Dispatch confirmed the warrant was active. She was arrested and brought to the police station, where she posted the $400 bond to be released.

n Oct. 21 - An officer responded to a Colby residence in reference to a trespassing complaint. The officer met with a woman who showed him tire marks entering her property from a nearby trail. She pointed to an area where she had stacked some wood from a tree she cut down. She said the wood piles had been taken, along with a large log she used to block people from trespassing.

The complainant said she wasn’t too concerned about the missing wood, but was upset that someone had gone that far onto her property. The officer noticed that the tire tracks appeared to come from an ATV or other vehicle with a narrow wheel base. The complainant requested extra patrols around her property.

n Oct. 21 - An officer responded to a harassment complaint from a woman in Wood County. She said a man living in Abbotsford was continuing to call her even though she told him to stop contacting her. The officer went to his house and told him to stop calling the complainant or he would be facing charges. The man said he would stop.

n Oct. 21 - An officer was on STH 13 in Colby when he checked the registration of the vehicle in front of him. The vehicle came back as registered to someone without a valid license, so the officer pulled the vehicle over.

While speaking with the driver, the officer could smell marijuana. When asked about it, the driver said there was no marijuana in the vehicle but the officer was free to check. Another officer arrived on scene and helped with the search, which uncovered a nearly empty vape cartridge, with a small amount of liquid near the bottom.

The driver admitted to smoking marijuana every day and said his clothes probably smell of it. The cartridge was confiscated and the driver was released with a warning.

n Oct. 23 - An officer was dispatched to a Colby residence in reference to a suspicious activity report. The officer met with a woman who believed her exboyfriend had tried to pry her apartment door open. She had noticed that the weather stripping on her door was cut when she went to work that Friday night. She believed he was there while she was at work the previous day. The complainant said he had lived there until Oct. 21, when his short-term contract expired. She said the only thing he left behind was an inflatable mattress. She did not know if he still had a key or where he was living now. The officer advised her to call the police if her exboyfriend showed up again.

n Oct. 24 - An officer was on Spruce Street in Abbotsford when he ran the license plate of the vehicle in front of him. The registered owner came back as not having a valid license, so the officer pulled the vehicle over near Hiline Drive. When the officer met with the driver, he could smell alcohol and noticed the driver’s eyes were glossy and bloodshot.

ThedriveronlyhadaMexican ID card, and dispatch confirmed that he did not have a driver’s license. When asked how much he had to drink, the driver said four or five beers. The driver agreed to do field sobriety tests, and as they were conducted, he had trouble following directions and showed signs of intoxication. A preliminary breath test showed a .180 blood-alcohol content, so the driver was arrested and taken to the police station. He registered a .16 BAC on the on the breathalyzer and was cited for drunk driving and driving without a valid license.

n Oct. 24 - An officer was dispatched to an Abbotsford residence in reference to a possible disturbance between two male parties. Dispatch said one man was threatening to beat the other man up.

The officer met with the complainant, who said his brother was very intoxicated and talking stupid. The complainant said his brother did not physically attack him in any way, but he was “talking like a tough guy.” The officer went out into the yard and spoke with the brother. The brother said he did not know why the complainant was mad at him. He admitted to consuming 10 to 12 beers. When asked if he could stay with a friend until he sobered up, he agreed to do so. The officer then gave him a ride to his friend’s house.

n Oct. 24 - An officer was asked

POLICE LOG / to contact an inmate at the Wood County Jail about a possible theft complaint. The officer called the complainant, who said that another inmate had told him that a male and female party had stolen his motorcycle in Abbotsford and were going to sell it. The complainant did not know the other inmate’s name, but was trying to figure it out.

The complainant admitted the motorcycle was registered to someone else, but it belonged to him. He said the motorcycle had been inside his house in Abbotsford but now it was in a shop south of Unity. The officer said he would need to speak with the registered owner of the motorcycle to confirm it was stolen. The officer called and left a message with the registered owner, but he had not called back by the time the report was filed.