This week, Rimbey RCMP detachment responded to 40 calls for service, including theft, fraud, domestic violence, drugs, break and enter, and other serious matters.
Often, we are asked if we would entertain the idea of having a ride-a-long for an evening. Sometimes, the inquisitive person wants to see if it's anything like they see on television. Unfortunately, we are not able to accommodate such requests. So, in this week's Police Report, I am going to take you on a ride-a-long with me... or I will at least try to paint the picture of what last Saturday night would have been like if you were my partner. However, I promise you it will not be like the last Hawaii 5-0 episode you watched in more ways than one! Aside from the lack of sand, bikinis and an ocean breeze, we are not going to solve a triple homicide in less than an hour!
We start our shift at 6 p.m. and go over a few sound rules to ensure your safety. Next, we do two hours of paperwork from the domestics we attended the night before. I wish I were kidding! We then hit the road and patrol through Bluffton, Hoadley and east on Highway 611 to the gas plant area looking for speeders and anyone out and about that look like they are up to no good.
As we circle through Parkland Beach, we are dispatched to a 911 call from a frantic Rimbey homeowner who was having a few friends over for a party which had escalated out of control and now there was an intoxicated person there who was no longer welcome and refused to leave.
Const. Langley, who is also on duty with us tonight, is already cruising by the scene so he quickly locates the unwanted guest and places him under arrest. You and I patrol the area to ensure all is quiet while Const. Langley transports the accused to the closest jail in Sylvan Lake. A few minutes later, we hear Const. Langley on the police radio pulling over a car. Evidently, a drunk driver nearly crashed into him en route to jail and needs to be detained before he kills someone. We know that Const. Langley is going to be tied up for a while with his arrests, so we are now on our own to look after the nearly 2,000 square kilometres in our detachment area.
Shortly after 1 a.m., we give a speeder a ticket on Highway 20, then we receive another 911 call. This time, it is a lady in Rimbey reporting that she was fast asleep in her home when an unknown man started banging on the door trying to get in. The frightened homeowner ran to her bathroom and locked herself inside to hide from the intruder. You and I respond as quickly as possible with lights and siren to her address as she keeps the 911 Operator informed of what is happening. While we are en route to the scene, the adult male had been able to force his way through the front door and is now in the living room. As we get close to the address, we shut off the siren and stealthily park next door and approach her house. Through the window, we can see a man lying on the couch in the living room. In the blink of an eye, we enter the house and take hold of the man, putting him securely in handcuffs. We inform the poor lady that she is no longer in any danger and the intruder is going to jail. Apparently, he had been drinking at a local bar and got so drunk that he thought he had broken into his own house! Either way, off to jail we go with the sot to the Queen's Hotel so he can sleep it off without breaking any more laws. Fortunately for us, two Sylvan Lake Detachment members had also been responding to this call to back us up and they graciously offer to take our prisoner to jail with them on their way back to Sylvan Lake.
It is now 2 a.m. and the Northern Lights are out dancing in the northern sky which is something we don't see too often in this area. We slowly drive through a residential neighbourhood in town and see two men walking down the middle of the street. When they see us, the bigger of the two men throws a beer bottle down in an attempt to hide his indiscretions. The shorter of the two characters panics and puts his beer bottle in his pocket. Being a bit of an environmentalist, I don't have much time for litterbugs, so we drive up to have a chat with the two good ol' boys. When we ask them for ID, the one gentleman states that he had his wallet stolen from the bar earlier in the night. We ensure that neither of the men is wanted on any outstanding warrants and I recognize one as being a person I gave a warning to recently for speeding on Highway 53. Before we depart their company, we have the one man pick up the beer bottle he had thrown and we head to the bar.
Outside the tavern, an obviously intoxicated female is finishing her alcoholic beverage on the sidewalk while talking to her BFF on her cell phone. She slowly gazes up at us and complains that her wallet was stolen in the bar. Concerned that there may be a thief inside the bar preying on patrons' wallets, we decide to do a walk through the bar. As soon we enter the establishment, the sounds of really bad karaoke hurt our ears. Several guests see us come in and one says, "Hi Mark, how's your night?" Over his shoulder, I could see a man turn quickly and run like a gazelle out of the bar through the back door. Without hesitation, I chase after him through the bar and into the alleyway. Since I can run a lot faster mad than he can scared, I close the distance and get close enough to yell words of encouragement for the man to stop before things get worse.
I recognize the man as he is well known to police. He is currently out on $4,000 bail with a long list of conditions to abide by, including to not be in a bar or drink. Since you are in much better shape than I am, you watch over the detainee while I catch my breath! As we are searching the man at the police car to ensure he does not have any weapons, a silver car speeds past us with its muffler roaring as it accelerates quickly down the street. Unfortunately, there is only you and I as Const. Langley is still dealing with the drunk driver he caught earlier, so it is this bad driver's lucky day since we cannot even go after him.
We depart the bar with our prisoner on our way to Sylvan Lake to lodge our accused in jail when the police dispatcher puts out a BOLO (Be On the Look Out) for a silver car that was just reported stolen in Rimbey. We both look at each other in disgust since that was likely the same car that sped past us at the bar a few minutes ago.
We head south on Highway 20 with our prisoner as Const. Langley tells us he can meet us on the highway to get our prisoner from us. As we pull up to where Const. Langley is going to meet us near Bentley, we see a car parked on the side of Highway 12 where the driver is standing on the road with his door open urinating. We transfer the prisoner to Const. Langley's police car and we stop to check the driver out and, of course, he is drunker than a skunk. We ask him his name and he quickly responds with a first and last name. He tells us that he forgot his wallet at home so he has no ID to prove who he is.
A lady in the front passenger seat jumps out and says that she was driving, not him. She too is highly inebriated! We ask the gentleman his middle name while he zips up his pants and he stutters... ahhh...ahhh "Phillip". We ask his date of birth... he quickly responds, "April 1920"! Since both of these folks were in their 20's, there was no way we could let them drive away. After a little digging into their story, we determine that neither are allowed to be together as a court order prohibits them from any contact with one another. A tow truck arrives and impounds the car and the two nay doers are swiftly taken to Sylvan Lake detachment by our fellow work mate.
Just when we think our night will settle down, a domestic dispute in progress is dispatched to us. Allegedly, an adult female is in the middle of the road in Rimbey screaming at her husband who is walking down the street leaving the property. We quickly attend to the scene and proceed to deal with the difficult task of helping the couple through their situation. Afterwards, we patrol around town and the surrounding area looking for the silver car reported stolen earlier in the evening. With no success in locating the car, I drop you off at home for some well-deserved rest.
If you have any information regarding these or any other crimes (except for the stolen silver car, our investigation has already revealed a friend took it), 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.