Law Enforcement

_ July 24 - Officers were on patrol in Abbotsford when they noticed a vehicle make a strange movement on the Highway 29 westbound off ramp. The officer watching the vehicle could determine if a traffic violation had been committed, so they followed it out onto STH 29. While following behind it, the officers observed the vehicle drifting in its lane of traffic. As it negotiated a curve, it crossed over the center line and immediately swerved back over across the fog line and drive over the rumble strips. The officers pulled the vehicle over west of Hiline Avenue.

One of the officers approached the driver, who immediately asked why he had been pulled over. The officer informed him of the reason for the stop, but the driver claimed it was because he was Hispanic. The officer said he did not know the driver’s race until he met with him at the vehicle. The officer could smell alcohol coming from inside the vehicle and he noticed the driver’s eyes were glossy and red and his speech was slurred. The driver repeatedly called him racist for pulling him over. When asked how much he had to drink that night, the driver eventually admitted to having as many as four drinks.

The officer had the driver exit the vehicle for field sobriety tests. The driver had trouble maintaining his balance and following instructions during the tests. A preliminary breath test showed a blood-alcohol level of .248. The driver continued to accuse the officers of racism as he was arrested and transported to an area hospital for a blood draw. The driver was cited for driving left of center, deviation from a designated lane, and driving under the influence. The driver complained about his 14-year-old son being left home alone, so the officer contacted social services to advise them of the situation. After getting a blood draw at the hospital, the driver was transported to Clark County Jail.

_ July 25 - An officer received a phone call from an Abbotsford gas station about a vehicle crashing in the station’s parking lot. When the officer arrived, he observed a vehicle crashed into the side of a concrete pillar protecting an emergency shut-off valve, which was undamaged. An eyewitness said the vehicle backed out of its parking spot and drove directly into the pillar. The witness said the driver still attempted to drive the vehicle after it was disabled. He said the driver was now inside the gas station.

The officer met with the driver in the breezeway of the gas station and asked him what happened. The driver said his friend had crashed the vehicle. The offi cer asked him why the eyewitnesses had identified him as the driver. When asked where is friend was who supposedly crashed the car, he said in Colby. He did not answer when the officer asked why the friend left him there. The driver had glossy eyes and alcohol on his breath, and he admitted to drinking a few beers. The officer had the driver do field sobriety tests, and the driver struggled to maintain his balance and follow instructions. He also registered a .191 blood-alcohol level on a preliminary breath test. The driver was arrested for driving under the influence and taken to the police station, where he refused to have an evidentiary sample of his blood taken. He was cited and released to a sober party.

_ July 25 - An officer was dispatched to an Abbotsford residence for a welfare check on a baby that was crying. An anonymous caller said they had heard someone yelling before the child started crying. When the officer arrived, he did not hear any crying. He spoke to an adult male, who said he had yelled at his four-year-old son for acting out, but everything was OK.

_ July 25 - An officer was dispatched to a Colby apartment complex in reference to a parked car with a passed out driver inside. Upon arrival, the officer noticed the vehicle was not parked in a designated spot and was blocking half the parking lot. The officer made contact with the driver, who smelled like alcohol and had glassy, bloodshot eyes. When asked what he was doing, the driver said he was waiting for a friend who lived in an apartment complex down the block. He said his friend was new here and does not know his address. The driver admitted to drinking the night before but not that day.

Dispatched reported that the driver’s license was suspended due to an alcohol- related offense and he had two prior drunk driving convictions. Another arrived on scene and said a witness had seen the driver’s vehicle parked in the middle of the roadway for awhile before pulling into the parking lot. The witness said the driver appeared to be sleeping. The driver claimed he was just on the phone, and not sleeping. When asked again how much he had to drink, the driver admitted to having about six before coming to pick up his friend. Field sobriety tests were done, and a preliminary breath test showed a .147 blood-alcohol content. The driver was arrested for drunk driving and searched, which uncovered two bags of marijuana in his front pocket. A total of 3.2 grams of marijauana was taken as evidence. The driver was taken to the police station, where he registered a .13 BAC on the breathalyzer. He was cited for drunk driving (third) and driving with a revoked license (fourth). He was released to a sober party.

_ July 26 - An Abbotsford woman came to the police station to report that her passport was missing. She had contacted the consulate’s office and was told to file a police report. The officer said he would complete a report and provide her with a copy.

_ July 26 - An officer met with an Abbotsford resident who needed a copy of a letter from the police department. The letter stated that he was not allowed to enter the local grocery store or he would be arrested for trespassing.

_ July 26 - An officer was dispatched to an Abbotsford residence in reference to a loose dog complaint. He met with a woman who said she found a small black and orange dog on her property. She had not seen the dog before and does not know who it belongs to. The dog was transported to the police department and kept in the garage. A short time later, the owner came to the station to claim the dog. She was warned about allowing a dog to run at large.

_ July 26 - An officer was dispatched to an Abbotsford apartment in reference to a disturbance. The officer met with a man who said his father got mad at him after arriving home from work and finding the kitchen dirty. He said his father had wanted him to clean the kitchen but he was not feeling well so he didn’t. He said his father wanted him to move out of the apartment. The officer also met with the father, who told the exact same story. Both parties said nothing physical happened. The son said he was going to sleep in his car for the night and would have a friend pick him up the following day.

_ July 27 - A pair of officers were turning north onto STH 13 from Elderberry Road when they noticed a vehicle driving by without any headlights on after dark. The officers pulled the vehicle over and approached the vehicle. One of the officers spotted an open beer can near the rear passenger. The officer met with the driver, who had glossy, bloodshot eyes. The officer could smell alcohol coming from the vehicle, and the driver admitted to having five beers. The rear passenger leaned over the driver’s ear and whispered something. The driver then stated he had only three beers. Both passengers appeared to be heavily intoxicated, and one of them had a beer by his knee, which was confi scated and dumped out. He was cited for having an open intoxicant in a motor vehicle.

Dispatch reported that one of the passengers had a warrant out for contempt of court, with a $250 bond. The officer requested backup, and a deputy arrived shortly thereafter. When the officer returned to the vehicle, the driver and his two passengers were all sleeping. The officer had to shake the driver slightly to get him to wake up.

Field sobriety tests were conducted, and a preliminary breath test showed a blood-alcohol level of .187. During the tests, the officer noticed that the driver had urinated inside his jeans and he had a strong smell of alcohol on his breath. The driver was arrested and taken to the police, where he consented to an evidentiary test of his blood. While on the way to an area hospital, the officer completed citations for driving without required headlights, driving without a valid license and driving under the infl uence. After a blood draw was taken, the driver was released to a sober party. The passenger with a warrant was also arrested, and he was able to post the full $200.50 bond before being released.

_ July 27 - An officer investigated possible ordinance violations at several properties in Abbotsford and Colby. At a house on North Fourth Street in Abbotsford, an officer saw four vehicles with either expired registrations or no vehicle registrations displayed. Three of the vehicles had no license plates and one had a registration expired as of Sept. 29, 2021. The officer also noticed several tires and other debris on the property.

The officer followed up on a long grass complaint at a rental property on West Pine Street in Abbotsford. The grass still did not appear to have been mowed recently. There were weeds sprouting around the yard.

At a house on North Fourth Street in Abbotsford, the officer saw two unregistered vehicles parked on the grass. Both vehicles appeared to be not legally operable.

Photographs of all the properties were taken, and warning letters were sent to the owners.

_ July 28 - Officers responded to a theft complaint at a Colby residence. They met with a man who said his girlfriend had items stolen from her vehicle while it was parked in their driveway. The complainant said both his and his girlfriend’s vehicles had been gone through, but nothing was missing from his vehicle. The girlfriend said her wallet was missing. The complainant said her wallet contained $150 in cash, a debit card, a credit card, a driver’s license and a work ID badge. The complainant said his girlfriend was a deputy with an area sheriff’s department. He said her keys were also missing, including those for her house, vehicle and work. The complainant did not have any suspects in mind. Officers met with the complainant’s girlfriend the following day to go over the items that were missing, which included a work ID badge for a county jail in the area. She also did not have any suspects in mind.

_ July 29 - An officer met with a tenant at an Abbotsford apartment complex who said someone had been knocking at her door the previous night. When she asked the apartment manager to check the hallway security cameras, she realized it was the police knocking on her door, so she wanted to know why. The officer said he was not sure because he was not working that night.

The officer ran the woman’s name through dispatch, and she came back as having a body-only warrant for failure to appear in court for drunk driving with a passenger under 16. The woman said she knew she had missed court and had called the clerk of courts afterwards and told them she could not make it. The officer told her she should have called ahead of time if she was unable to make the court date. She asked the officer to call the judge and explain that she had to work. The officer said he could not do that. The woman was arrested and transported to Loyal, where she was turned over to a Clark County deputy for transport to jail.

_ July 29 - An officer was dispatched to a Colby residence for a civil standby during a child custody exchange. A man had requested an officer be present when another man arrived to pick up his daughter. The officer parked his squad about a block away and observed as the father waved the man away from his house after he arrived. After a few minutes, with the man just standing there and the father waving him away, the officer approached. The man said he was not sure what the father was telling him to do. The officer said it looked as if the father was telling him to leave. The man said this was an ongoing occurrence and he wanted it documented that the father is violating the child custody arrangement. He then left. The father told the officer that he wanted it noted that the his daughter and the child’s mother are scared of the man who had been there, and they did not want her to go with him.

_ July 30 - Officers responded to a fatal accident involving a semi truck that rolled over on the STH 29 westbound offramp to STH 13. According to accident report, it appears as if the driver of the truck lost control, left the roadway on the north side of the off ramp. The vehicle rolled several times and became detached from its trailer. The truck came to a stop just south of the trailer in the ditch north of STH 29 off ramp. The crash resulted in the death of the truck driver.

_ July 30 - An officer ran the license plate of a vehicle traveling south on South Fifth Street in Abbotsford, and the registered owner came back as having no driver’s license. The officer pulled the vehicle over and met with the driver and his passenger, who did not have ID on him but agreed to write down his name and date of birth. The officer deployed his K-9 for a free-air sniff, and the dog alerted to the smell of narcotics coming from the passenger’s side door. Dispatch reported that the driver did not have a Wisconsin driver’s license.

As the passenger was exiting the vehicle, the officer could see that he had been sitting on a vape device. Based on the officer’s training and experience, the substance inside the device was most likely THC, the active ingredient in marijauana. The passenger was visibly nervous and shaking when the officer asked him about it. At first, he said a co-worker had given it to him, and then he said it came from an unknown person at a bar in Wausau. The passenger was told he would be mailed citations for possession of THC and possession of drug paraphernalia if the substance tested positive for the drug. The driver was cited for driving without a license. The substance in the vape device did test positive for THC.

_ July 31 - An officer was on patrol in Abbotsford when he was flagged down by a group of people in the roadway on North Fifth Street. He could hear one of the people in the group talking to a 911 dispatcher. When the officer asked what was happening, several in the group pointed to some cars and said someone was there. The officer walked over to the driveway and saw several people holding down a juvenile male. The offi- cer had the juvenile stand up and come talk to him away from the other people. The juvenile said he was out for a walk when he was grabbed, dragged to the driveway and pushed to the ground for no reason. He said the male subjects searched his pockets and pulled out a knife. He said he did not know why they did this to him.

The officer spoke to several individuals who had witnessed the incident. One male subject said the juvenile had entered his car and was going through it, so he left his residence, grabbed the juvenile’s arm and pulled him out of the car. He said when he pulled the juvenile out of the car, the juvenile spun around and made a stabbing motion at him with his knife. The male said the juvenile’s knife touched him on his stomach but did not cut him. He said he was able to get the juvenile to drop the knife, and he pulled him to the ground. He said he and two other males held him while someone called 911.

The officer spoke to the juvenile again. He denied entering the complainant’s car or pulling the knife on him. He said he had the knife opened in his pocket. The juvenile was arrested for recklessly endangering safety, attempted theft, and disorderly conduct with use of a dangerous weapon. He was brought to the police station, where his father and a juvenile intake worker were called in. The juvenile was eventually released to his parents’ place and told that any further criminal activity would result in him being put in a secure detention facility.