Law Enforcement

n October 1 - An officer pulled a vehicle over for a windshield obstruction and dark window tint on the driver’s side window.

The officer made contact with the driver who said he was test driving the vehicle and had a passenger with him.

While running the man’s information through dispatch, another officer onscene deployed his K9 for a free air sniff of the vehicle. K9 Dodge alerted to the odor of narcotics coming from the vehicle.

The officer asked the driver to exit the vehicle and if he had any drugs in the vehicle. The man said there were none. The officer found a glass pipe with a burnt residue inside of it on the driver’s person and also found a TKO vape device. The man said he bought the device at a smoke shop in Colby. He also said he smokes tobacco out of the pipe. The officer had both the driver and passenger sit in the back of separate squad cars as they searched the vehicle.

The officers found a cut white straw with a white residue inside of it on the passenger side floor. The officer notified the passenger that if the straw tested positive for a controlled substance that he would be referring a citation for possession of drug paraphernalia. A similar message was relayed to the driver about the pipe and vape device.

At the police station, the pipe tested positive for marijuana, the vape device tested positive for THC, and the straw tested positive for methamphetamine. The driver was mailed a citation for possession of drug paraphernalia.

The passenger has four open cases through Marathon County, three of which are felony related charges and one misdemeanor charge. The bond conditions on these cases state that the passenger is not to possess controlled substances. The officer referred charges of possession of drug paraphernalia, three counts of felony bail jumping and a bail jumping misdemeanor to the Marathon County DA’s office.

n October 4 - An officer was notified that there was a woman that worked in the city of Abbotsford that had a warrant out for her arrest. The officer went to the woman’s place of employment and asked if the woman was working. The officer was told the woman would meet him in the back of the building.

The officer met with the woman and notified her that she had a warrant for missing a court date. The woman said she thought court was on a different date. The officer pulled up the case and it stated it was Oct. 4, the day the two were presently speaking. The officer notified the woman he would be taking her to Clark county jail. She called the Clark county DA’s office to apologize for missing her court date and told them she would be on the way to the jail now.

n October 5 - An officer was dispatched to a local bank in reference to a fraudulent check issue. The officer arrived and met with the branch manager who handed the officer incident paperwork.

The paperwork stated that the customer had come in to the branch on Aug. 15 to cash a check totaling $2,950 and was from the Town of Waxhaw in North Carolina. The teller said she had searched the information on the check and found that everything appeared to be legitimate. The teller cashed the check and gave the customer the full amount. Two days later, the check was returned as not authorized as the routing number did not match any bank or financial institution.

On Aug. 17, the manager of the bank contacted the customer informing her the check was returned. The customer said she would bring the money to cover the check after work as she still had the money in hand.

On Aug. 30, the manager was contacted by the customer asking if she could get a loan to pay the money back as she had spent it on bills. The manager asked her where the check had come from and the customer told her it came in the mail as she thought she had some money coming to her. The manager asked why she had not come in after being contacted right away about the check being returned. The customer said she had actually spent the money before being contacted about the check being returned.

On Sept. 15, the customer was again contacted by the bank and informed she needed to pay back the $2,950. The customer said if they could not give her a loan for the amount, that she would not be paying it back.

The officer made contact with the customer over the phone on Oct. 6 and stated why he wished to speak with her. The woman said she received the check in the mail and thought that it was a reimbursement check for driving her kids to school as they lived outside of the school district they attend.

The woman said before she was notified the check was fraudulent, she had paid for school supplies and a $600 phone bill. The woman stated she lied to the manager at the time by saying she had the full amount in her hand at the time.

The woman said she had no idea the check was fake and that she tried working with the bank to get a loan to pay the money back. The officer said it did not make a lot of sense to ask the bank for a loan to pay back money that they were already out. The woman said it was not a loan but a payment plan.

The woman said she was unemployed but working part time and was unable to pay the sum back.

The woman stated she should have known and looked into the check more as typical checks were $200$250. She said the bank should not have accepted the check if it was not legitimate and now she was suffering because of their mistake.

The officer forwarded the report to the Marathon County DA’s Office pursuing a charge for fraud against a financial institution for the woman.

n October 6 - An officer was requested to South First Avenue in Abbotsford for a hit and run complaint. The officer met with an Abbotsford male and female to talk about the incident. The man showed the officer an aluminum trailer which was sitting in the middle of his driveway. The woman said the duo were in their living room when she heard a loud crash outside near the street.

The woman stated she went outside onto the porch and observed a dark colored SUV traveling south. The vehicle then turned and she said she did not see the driver.

The man said he owned the trailer and it was parked on his property, several yards away from the curb. The man pointed out the imprints in the grass where it had been sitting and then showed the officer the damage done to the trailer. The man said there were two latches on each side of the trailer which were bent but were originally straight pieces of metal.

The officer noticed a distinct set of tire marks that left the roadway onto the curb and into the man’s grass. The officer said he would document the vehicle and contact the man if the suspect’s vehicle was located. The officer checked several streets in close proximity to the residence prior to his arrival but did not locate any vehicles matching the description. The officer checked more of the surrounding area after leaving the residence and did not locate any vehicles matching the description. The officer did see a “yield” sign a block away from where the damaged trailer was located that had been severely bent and twisted with a tire mark leading up to the sign.

n October 6 - An officer was dispatched to a local gas station for a complaint in which a staff member had spoken with a male individual who requested to see an officer. Upon arrival, the officer spoke with staff of the gas station who stated the man did not want to wait and instead returned to his residence in the city of Colby.

The officer arrived at the man’s place of residence and made contact with the man. He stated his roommate had left her kids in his supervision. He said his concerns were that he is not responsible for the woman’s children and that the woman was gone for approximately four hours, causing him to have to look after the children. The man said the children do not respect him and have had behavior issues. The man requested that the woman take care of the children at all times because of the issues they cause. The man requested that the officer reach out to the woman to inform her of his requests.

The officer then made contact with the woman who said she was not gone for four hours and that the man was lying. The woman said there was an altercation at the residence a couple of days ago and said she believed the man to be blowing the situation out of proportion.

The officer asked the woman to take the children with her when she leaves the house for an extended period of time and she stated she would. The woman said she understands the man is not responsible for the children but she believes they are old enough to be left alone for a short time if she has to leave.

The man was informed to call law enforcement if the children are acting out inside the residence when the woman is gone.

n October 7 - An officer was dispatched to McDonald’s in Abbotsford for a report of a disturbance. The officer arrived on the scene and made contact with the manager of the restaurant who stated a male individual was waiting in line to refund his order.

The manager said they were busy at the time and the male got agitated it was taking so long to be waited on. The man started to yell at the employees and was making a scene. The manager was unable to identify what the male said to the employees.

The manager said a customer who was eating inside of the restaurant confronted the unidentified male who was yelling. The male and the customer were standing face to face with each other in the front of the restaurant’s cash registers. The male told the customer to come outside so he could beat the customer up.

The male then left in his vehicle and the manager stated he is not to be allowed back into the restaurant any longer. The officer contacted the owner of the vehicle the man left in but did not reach the individual as of yet.

October 8 - An officer was dispatched to an alleyway in Abbotsford for a report of a suspicious vehicle. The officer met the vehicle on West Butternut Street and followed it. The vehicle drove onto the curb before returning to the road and heading down an alleyway. The vehicle pulled into a driveway and the officer made contact with the driver. The officer noticed the driver had glassy or watery eyes and could smell alcohol coming from his breath.

The officer located an open can of beer on the floor of the driver’s side seat and several more open cans on the passenger side floor.

The officer ran the driver through standardized field sobriety tests and a preliminary breath test came back with a result of .178. The officer placed the man under arrest and cited him with operating while under the influence, operating with a prohibited alcohol content, operating without a valid license and possession of an open intoxicant in a motor vehicle.

n October 8 - An officer was dispatched to an apartment in the City of Abbotsford for a heating complaint. Upon arrival, the officer met with the tenant of the property who said there is no heat in the apartment. The tenant said he had the electric stove on high and a fan blowing in front of the stove to circulate heat.

The tenant said he had WE Energies at the residence to check the gas lines to the furnace recently and due to safety reasons, WE Energies shut the gas line off.

The tenant said the owner of the property is refusing to fix the gas issues because they are claiming the tenant owes money from their previous residence the tenant had also rented from that owner. The tenant said the owner of the property served him eviction papers after he complained about the gas issues.

The officer recommended the tenant talk with Abbotsford City Hall about possible building code violations. The man stated he had already contacted the city and they gave him numbers to call for assistance. The tenant agreed to check back with the city at a later date.

n October 9 - An officer was dispatched to a car wash in Abbotsford where there was a report of a disturbance. Upon arrival, the officer met with a Colby woman who said she went to the car wash to wash her UTV. She used a brush because there was no mud on the UTV, only road dust. The woman said a man in the next wash bay over came in and told her not to use the brush and then sprayed her with water. The woman asked why he had sprayed her and the man sprayed her again and left.

While the officer was speaking with the woman, the male party involved came back to the car wash and was speaking with the woman’s boyfriend.

The officer then spoke to the man who allegedly sprayed the woman who said he told the woman not to use the brush because other people may want to use it to wash cars. The man said he pointed the sprayer at the woman but had not squeezed the trigger and only the light stream of water hit the woman. The man said he then pointed the sprayer at the woman again and got her with water because it was funny.

The officer told the man he would be mailing him a citation for disorderly conduct.