Law Enforcement

n August 1 - Officers were notified of a found dog in Colby on July 25 and the canine was collected and transferred to the Abbotsford municipal building’s dog kennel. One officer observed the dog to be extremely aggressive, attempting to bite him through the kennel. He also observed it to be in extremely poor physical condition. The dog remained at the kennel where it was provided food, water and shelter while attempts to find its owners were made.

On July 27, the officer attempted to locate the possible owner of the dog by speaking with residents on the street where it was found. After speaking with a number of residents, all of them stated that they had never seen the dog before and did not recognize it as belonging to any of their neighbors.

As of August 1, no one had called claiming the dog and no owner had been located. The dog was then transported to the Marathon County Humane Society. n August 2 - A theft was reported to the police via e-mail, explaining that on July 22, a company’s vehicle was parked in a lot in Abbotsford that was designated as the storage location for the vehicle. According to the vehicle’s GPS, it left the parking lot and arrived at a gas station in Colby five minutes later. The driver of the vehicle pumped gasoline into the vehicle using the company fuel card, even though the vehicle utilizes diesel rather than regular gasoline. The pin number used to authorize the fuel purchase was the employee number of an employee that is located in Michigan. The vehicle then was returned to the parking lot and remained there for three days. When the operator of the vehicle arrived on July 25, they unlocked the storage compartments on the vehicle and observed several items missing. The individual who sent the report to the police believed that an employee of the company that did not have authorization to operate the vehicle purchased the gasoline and stole the items from the vehicle.

The missing items were a large variety of tools valued at a few thousand dollars. After receiving the report, an officer had the individual reporting the theft fill out a lack of consent form and a detailed list of the missing items.

The officer went to the gas station in question and reviewed video footage from the scene. In the footage, the officer could see the vehicle pull up to the fuel pumps on July 22, but the video lacked the clarity to identify the driver of the vehicle. The officer also checked the cameras of a nearby business but found that they offered no angle of the fuel pumps.

n A traffic stop was conducted by an officer in Colby after the officer noticed a vehicle with a burnt out headlight. The officer made contact with the driver of the vehicle and the two passengers and informed the driver of their damaged headlight. The driver started to explain why it was burnt out and during that time, the officer requested that another officer join him on the scene.

The officer deployed the K9 unit and then informed the first officer on scene that the K9 had alerted to the vehicle. The first officer then reapproached the vehicle and had the driver exit the vehicle and walk over to the patrol vehicle. Following a search of the driver’s person, during which nothing of note was found, the officer asked the driver if there was any marijuana in the vehicle. The driver stated that there were several marijuana roaches in the ashtray.

The officer then had the pair of passengers exit the vehicle and asked one of them if there was any marijuana in the vehicle, to which the passenger said there was none. Searches of the passengers revealed nothing of note.

A search of the vehicle was then conducted. Numerous instances of marijuana and related paraphernalia were found during the search. A pistol was also found in the glove box, which had ammunition in the magazine but no rounds were in the chamber of the weapon. All were placed into evidence bags then taken to the officer’s patrol vehicle.

After asking if all the confiscated items belonged to him, the driver stated that most of the drugs and paraphernalia were his but the pistol was owned by his girlfriend and that he had forgotten it was in the glove box. One of the passengers stated that a vape pen and a cartridge with yellow liquid inside that were discovered during the search belonged to him after he was questioned.

Dispatch was then advised to do a criminal history check for any prior marijuana charges and any felony charges for the driver and one of the passengers. Dispatch then advised the officer that the driver had a prior felony charge and was not to be in possession of any firearms. The driver was then placed under arrest for a felon in possession of a firearm and transported to the Marathon County jail.

n August 3 - Upon receiving a suspicious activity complaint, an officer was dispatched to a Colby residence to speak with the complainant.

The complainant stated that over the last week someone had been putting a large orange construction barrel and a tall construction cone by his door. The complainant lives upstairs at the residence and stated that he believed that the downstairs neighbors had been placing the obstructions. A woman who also lived at the upstairs residence came over to the officer with her phone and stated that she had just spoken with someone who had stated that the downstairs resident had admitted to putting the barrel and cone by the door to them.

The officer then went to the downstairs apartment and spoke with the neighbor. The officer asked the neighbor about the cone and barrel and he said that someone had been putting them on their front porch all week. He then said that his friend had put them by the complainant’s door that evening as a joke. The neighbor stated that they usually had been putting them back by a local church where they normally would have been. The officer then asked the neighbor if he could put the barrel and cone back where they belonged tonight and he stated that he would. When asked if he knew who had been moving the cone and barrel throughout the week, the neighbor said he did not. The officer then informed the complainant of the situation and to call the police department if they saw anyone dragging cones and barrels around.

n August 4 - An officer pulled over a vehicle in Abbotsford after clocking the vehicle at 37 mph in a 25 mph zone.

After identifying the driver with her driver’s license, the officer asked to see proof of insurance for the vehicle. The driver attempted to find it on her phone.

Noting that the driver’s license and the license plates were from out of state, the officer asked if the driver had recently moved to Wisconsin, to which the driver stated that she had not and was only there to do remodeling work on a local business. The officer observed that, instead of looking for the insurance, the driver had used Google to search for the business they had stated they were doing remodeling work for. The officer reminded the driver that they needed to be searching for their proof of insurance, but the driver continued to pull up different apps on her phone and at one point used Google to search for “Wisconsin.” The officer asked where the driver was coming from, to which she stated that she had been at a cantina in Colby and that they had only had one drink. The driver was still unable to find their insurance, prompting the officer to ask who her insurance provider was. The driver stated that the insurance was through Geico and then the officer observed her pull up the company’s website on her phone and start to sign up for insurance. The officer once again told the driver to continue to find proof of insurance before returning to their patrol vehicle to conduct a records check of the vehicle and driver.

After returning, the officer asked if the driver had found her proof of insurance, to which she responded she had not and apologized. The officer then asked if the driver would be willing to participate in some field sobriety tests and she agreed.

The driver could not successfully navigate the three physical tests administered by the officer, after which they asked if she was willing to take a preliminary breath test. The driver agreed and after finding the results were over the legal limit, the officer informed the driver she was under arrest for operating while under the influence. During a search of the driver’s person, a vape device was discovered and another officer on scene asked if there were any drugs in the vehicle, to which the driver stated that there potentially were.

The two officers conducted a probable cause search of the vehicle and found and confiscated several pieces of drug paraphernalia as well as bags of a green leafy substance, a brown crushed up mushroom-like material and the remnants of a white powdery substance.

The driver was transported to the Colby-Abbotsford Police Department and a chemical breath test was administered. Citations for exceeding speed zones, operating while under the influence and operating with a prohibited alcohol concentration were issued and the officer informed the driver that they were also requesting charges for the drugs that were found.

n August 5 - While traveling in Abbotsford, an officer observed a vehicle driving in the opposite direction to be traveling very slowly. The officer turned around and conducted a records check of the vehicle, finding that the registered owner did not have an issued license.

The officer conducted a traffic stop and while approaching thedriver’sside window, they observed a strong odor of intoxicants coming from inside the vehicle. The officer told the driver the reason for the traffic stop, to which the driver stated that he was not the registered owner of the vehicle. The officer asked for identification, to which the driver stated that he did not have any on him. While speaking with the driver, the officer observed him to have glossy, bloodshot eyes and slow, slurred speech. When the driver was asked how much he had to drink, he stated that he had two beers and that it was the first time he had drunk beer. The officer observed several beer bottles along the floorboards of the front part of the vehicle while speaking.

Another officer arrived on scene and both the driver and a passenger were verbally identified. After conducting a record search, the officer did not find any driver’s licenses issued to either individual and Clark County dispatch confirmed this information.

The officer then returned to the driver and asked to conduct field sobriety tests, to which the driver agreed to. The driver was unable to perform the tests and then consented to a preliminary breath test, which revealed him to be over the legal limit.

The driver was placed under arrest and the passenger was allowed from the scene. The driver was then transported to the Colby-Abbotsford Police Department, where an additional breath test was conducted and citations for operating without a valid license, while under the influence, and with a prohibited alcohol concentration were issued.

n An individual met with an officer at the Colby-Abbotsford Police Department for a fraud complaint. She stated that while on a trip out of state, she had rented a vehicle from Turo, a company that assists people rent out their privately owned vehicles to customers. The woman said that as she was leaving from her trip, she forgot her wallet in the rented vehicle. She noted that she always places her wallet underneath the front passenger seat if she leaves her wallet in the car and that inside the wallet was $300 in cash and three credit cards, though no other items of personal property.

The woman then stated that she had observed multiple unauthorized charges on her credit cards all originating from a city in Mexico. She also stated that the wallet itself was quite valuable, noting that it was worth several thousand dollars. She had contacted her credit card companies who had advised her that she needed to report the incident to the police.