Rimbey RCMP responded to 37 calls for service. Highlights include drugs, theft, suicidal persons, domestic assaults and other serious matters.
Threatened suicide
Officers attended several incidents of attempted or threatened suicide. In one case, a man armed with a army style knife was arrested without incident and taken into custody after the officer alerted the man that he was about to be hit with 50,000 volts of electricity from a conducted energy weapon the officer was about to deploy. The 33-year-old man had allegedly committed a domestic assault earlier in the day and was already being sought by police. Charges are pending in this case.
McLaughlin charged
Dustin McLaughlin, a 24-year-old resident of Rimbey, was arrested and charged this week for drug trafficking and unlawful possession of a weapon dangerous to the public. Police seized cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and marihuana during the investigation. McLaughlin was previously charged in January 2014, for possession of cocaine, marihuana and methamphetamine. Police will continue to target illegal activities in Rimbey and will use all available resources in an effort to reduce crime in our community.
Road kill
A concerned citizen called police to report a dead coyote on Highway 771. Police quickly responded and found the frozen furbearer on the side of the road. Despite a valiant attempt to resuscitate the creature, he was pronounced dead at the scene. Seriously though, we are fortunate in our area to have County and Transportation workers who are very diligent with removing road kill from the highways so police don't have to. In this case, the responding officer delivered the animal to a local 87-year-old trapper who hasn't been able to pursue the varmints this year like he used to due to the amount of snow we have had.
Beware of midnight shoppers
Despite numerous warnings in previous police reports, folks in Rimbey continue to store their purses and wallets in their vehicles overnight. Opportunistic thieves helped themselves to another purse and its contents when they were out doing their midnight shopping around town. Please lock your car, remove any valuables and never leave your keys in the vehicle when it is left unattended.
Beware of good deals
In March, there will be several public broadcasts and advertisements regarding fraud prevention. Almost weekly, a good honest citizen will attend the detachment with a letter from a grandson they never even knew they had requesting money to be sent to them as they are in desperate need of money. Or, that they won a large sum of money and just need to send $375 so the agency can complete the administrative paperwork to send them their winnings. Or, if you are advertising your car for sale for $4,000 and someone offers to send you $6,000 up front with a long drawn story of how they need to do this for a variety of reasons and all you have to do is send them $1,500 because they overpaid you. Don't be fooled! It's a scam. -Do not send money to someone you do not know. Remember; if a deal seems too good to be true...walk away!
If you have any information regarding these or any other crimes, please call the local Rimbey RCMP Detachment at (403) 843-2224 or Crime Stoppers:
PHONE: 1-800-222-8477
#8477 on Telus Mobility
*8477 on Rogers AT&T
Crime Stoppers is a community program that does work! Do your part and call now.