Law Enforcement
COLBY-ABBOTSFORD POLICE LOG
_ Dec. 11 - An officer was dispatched to an Abbotsford gas station in reference to a gas skip. The officer spoke with the station manager, who said the driver had paid for other items in the store with a gift card but did not pay for $24.53 worth of gasoline he pumped. The manager said he was unsure if the cashier asked the customer if he had gas.
The officer ran the vehicle’s license number, and it came back as registered to a woman in Colby. The officer went to the woman’s residence and asked her about paying for the gas. She said she told the cashier that she had pumped gas when she went to pay for the other items she purchased. The officer said the cashier must have forgotten to add the gas to her bill. The woman made arrangements to pay for the gas.
_ Dec. 11 - An officer was dispatched to a Colby residence in reference to a pill bottle being found in a mailbox. The officer spoke to a woman who said she went to get her mail and found a bottle with two pills inside. She said they did not belong to her.
The woman said the address on the bottle was for the residence next door, but the man whose name is on the prescription no longer lives there. The officer asked dispatch to look up the man’s current address, but it had not been updated since 2015 and there was no phone number on record.
The officer secured the pills at the police station as found property. He looked them up and determined they were ibuprofen.
_ Dec. 13 - An officer met with the owner of the laundromat in Abbotsford to discuss a possible theft. The owner said an unknown person who spoke Spanish had left some beauty products for sale and a small money box in the laundromat. He said he did not want the man selling his products at his establishment, and he also suspected that people had taken money out of the box he left. The owner said he had security footage of a suspect taking the money.
The laundromat owner said he called the number associated with the beauty products, and it went to voicemail with an outgoing message in Spanish. The officer told him that he would investigate the theft complaint if the salesman wanted him to, so the owner gave him the number.
The officer called the number on Dec. 15 and left a voicemail message. He also went to the laundromat, but did not see any beauty products or money box. The officer wrote that he would continue an investigation only if a complainant came forward.
_ Dec. 14 - An officer was informed of marijuana being smoked at an apartment building in Abbotsford. When the offi cer arrived at the apartment, he could not smell marijuana in the hall or stairwell. The officer went to the apartment identified as the source of the smell by the apartment manager.
The officer knocked on the door, and a man answered. The officer could see that the man was in the process of cooking a meal, and he also smelled a slight odor of marijuana. The tenant denied that any marijuana had been smoked, and said his neighbor just doesn’t like him. The officer noticed a duct vent centered in the living room/kitchen area, but he wasn’t sure if it was connected to the rest of the building.
The officer did not see any marijuana or paraphernalia, and there were also cigarette butts in an ashy tray. The officer did not believe the man who answered the door was under the influence. There was another man in the apartment, but he did not approach him. He noted that both men were cooperative and provided identification when asked.
The officer did warn them about marijuana use before leaving the apartment.
_ Dec. 14 - An officer dispatched to a Colby station in reference to a suspicious person who been on the premises for a couple of hours. The man in question was unable to speak because of a tracheotomy, so the officer used a pen and paper to communicate with him.
The man said he was trying to get to Kansas City, but a mixup with his bus ticket left him stranded in Colby. According to a store clerk, the man got off the bus he was supposed to take. He had no money for a hotel room, food or another bus ticket.
Another officer arrived on scene and helped develop a plan for the man to stay in the area of the gas station until the following day, when the police would help him acquire a new bus ticket. The man tried to buy beer from the station, but he was told that he could not sit there and drink beer while waiting for the bus. He then walked away from the officers and started walking north on STH 13 toward Abbotsford. The police warned other gas stations in the area about him.
The following morning at 5 a.m., local EMTs were dispatched to another gas station because the man’s trachea tube had come out and he was bleeding. He was ultimately transported to the emergency room in Wausau.
_ Dec. 14 - Officers responded to an Abbotsford residence to arrest a woman with an active probation warrant. The officers knocked on the woman’s door and could hear someone on the other side. An officer knocked louder,andthewomananswered the door. She was informed that she was being arrested due to the probation warrant.
The officers instructed her to put on some shoes so she could be transported to jail. She told the officers they were not allowed inside her apartment and started walking toward her bedroom. For safety reasons, the officers followed her to the bedroom. They explained this to her, and she asked if she could grab her jacket.
One of the officers spotted what appeared to be a small vile in the woman’s hand. She put her hand into a suitcase in the bedroom closet. She then got angry and started yelling. The offi cers grabbed her arms and escorted her out of the bedroom.
The woman was handcuffed and searched, but officers did not find the vial on her or in the closet. One of the officers noticed a beer can in the apartment, but the woman said that was from awhile ago. She denied having anything to drink, even though officers could smell alcohol on her breath. They administered a preliminary breath test, and she registered a .036 blood alcohol level. She said it was the result of her drinking the night before.
The woman was transported to Clark County Jail.
_ Dec. 14 - An officer spoke with an Abbotsford man about a possible case of identity theft. The man said he had lived with a roommate about three years ago who has since moved back to Mexico. He believes his former roommate may have taken his Social Security card and other information when he moved out.
The complainant said he is trying to get his driver’s license and is unable to do so because he does not have his Social Security card. He said he has also heard rumors around town that someone else is using his name and Social Security number. He does not believe any financial fraud has been committed, but he wanted his card back.
The officer advised him to go to the Social Security Administration office in Wausau to report his card stolen and to get a new one. He also advised the complainant to get a credit check done to make sure no one has taken out any loans or credit cards in his name.
_ Dec. 15 - An officer was in Abbotsford when he noticed a vehicle traveling at a very high rate of speed on North First Street. He clocked the vehicle going 48 miles per hour in a 25 mph zone. The vehicle turned left onto Pine Street and continued at a high rate of speed until the officer caught up to it and activated his emergency lights. The vehicle turned onto STH 13 and then pulled over to the side of the road.
As the officer approached the vehicle, the driver opened his door. The officer could smell alcohol coming from the vehicle and he saw an open bottle of beer, which he dumped out. The driver presented an obvious fake Puerto Rican ID made of laminated paper. When asked if he had anything to drink that night, he said “a little.” He said he did not have a driver’s license.
Another officer arrived on scene, and a preliminary breath test was administered to the driver. He registered a .15 blood alcohol level. Due to inclement weather and a language barrier, he was handcuffed and brought to the police station for field sobriety tests. A marijuana blunt was also found in his center console and taken as evidence.
A translator was called in, and the driver performed the sobriety tests. He had trouble maintaining his balance and following the officer’s directions. A breathalyzer test was taken but he kept giving deficient breath samples by letting up on his breath or not keeping his lips sealed on the tube. He eventually gave an adequate breath sample, which registered with a .15 BAC.
The driver was cited for drunk driving, having open intoxicants in a vehicle, speeding and possession of marijuana. He tried arguing that the marijuana was not his, even though he admitted to smoking it earlier. He was then released to a sober party.
_ Dec. 15 - An officer responded to an Abbotsford residence for a welfare check. The woman there had been in contact with an inmate at a Milwaukee jail and allegedly made suicidal comments.
The officer spoke to the woman, who said she is bipolar and has issues with manic-depression. She admitted to sending an email about a week earlier with suicidal comments to the jail inmate in Milwaukee. She said since then she has gotten medication to help her. She said at this time she had no suicidal thoughts and was not thinking about harming herself. She also said she had phone numbers to call if she started feeling suicidal again.
