COLBY-ABBOTSFORD POLICE LOG

_ Oct. 26 - An officer was dispatched to an Colby store in response to the theft of two snowblowers from the parking lot. The officer met with a store employee who pointed out where the snowblowers had been stolen from. From the tracks in the snow, the machines appeared to have been pulled south for about 30 feet before being placed onto a trailer.

The store employee said the thefts were captured on the store’s security camera. Viewing the footage, the officer could see a red SUV pulling in the parking lot at about 11:50 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 25. The video also showed two individuals exiting the vehicle before it left the parking lot, turning west onto Hodd Drive, at 12:03 a.m.

The officer also viewed security footage from a nearby gas station parking lot, and could see the vehicle turning north onto STH 13 and then entering the eastbound ramp on STH 29 after the theft. It appeared as if the vehicle entered Colby from the east before the theft.

The combined value of the two brand-new snowblowers totaled about $3,700.

_ Oct. 26 - An Abbotsford man came into the police station to turn himself in for an outstanding arrest warrant in Florida. The man identified himself with a Wisconsin driver’s license, and the officer confirmed that he had a full-extradition warrant out of Florida. The man was arrested and taken to the Clark County Jail.

_ Oct. 27 - An officer was dispatched to the corner of North Fourth Avenue and West Hemlock Street after it was reported that the school crossing guard had been hit by a vehicle. The officer was advised that the crossing guard was uninjured, and when he arrived, he declined medical attention.

The crossing guard said he was bumped to the side by a vehicle while he was stopping traffic on Fourth Avenue. He was wearing a reflective vest and carrying a stop sign at the time. The vehicle that clipped him continued down Hemlock Street before dropping kids off at the elementary school.

The officer spoke to a school district employee who remembered seeing a vehicle with its windshield almost completely covered by frost. The officer was able to view surveillance footage showing the SUV striking the crossing guard as he was walking behind a group of kids who just crossed the street. The driver of the vehicle can later be seen scraping frost off the windshield after dropping a child off.

School staff were able to help the officer identify the driver of the vehicle, who lives in Abbotsford. The officer went to the residence and met with a woman who confirmed that she had dropped her grandson off at school that day. At first, she denied that the windshield was frost over and that she struck the crossing guard.

The officer said he saw what happened on video and told her to stop lying. She admitted to scraping ice off her windshield at the school, but said she didn’t remember hitting the guard. The officer told her she should not have even been driving with a frosted-over windshield, as it is illegal and unsafe.

The driver was cited for failure to obey a school crossing guard, having an obstructed driver’s view and driving without a valid license.

_ Oct. 28 - An officer observed a vehicle on STH 13 cross the center line of the northbound lanes near East Elm Street in Abbotsford. The vehicle then made an abrupt lane change and crossed the double-yellow center line just before Spruce Street. The vehicle continued weaving as it proceeded through the intersection.

The officer ran the license plates, and the owner of the vehicle came back as having a revoked license. The officer pulled the vehicle over after it turned onto West Oak Street. As the officer approached the vehicle, the driver opened the door slightly and then closed it. The driver then rolled down a rear window by mistake before rolling down the driver’s side window. The officer could smell alcohol on the driver’s breath as he spoke.

When asked if there was any alcohol in the vehicle, the driver pointed to an 18-pack of beer in the rear seat. The driver admitted to having as many as four beers that night. The driver had trouble maintaining his balance during the field sobriety tests and eventually stopped trying to complete them.

The driver was arrested and taken to the police station, where he registered a .18 bloodalcohol content on the breathalyzer. He was cited for drunk driving (third offense) and driving with a revoked license due to an alcohol violation. He was then released to a sober party.

_ Oct. 28 - An officer met with a woman at the police station to discuss child custody issues. The woman said the father of her nine-month-old child had dropped the child off without shoes during a custody exchange. She did not want the offi cer to speak to the father about her complaint, but did want it documented. The officer agreed to write a report but advised her to document these issues herself for the court. The officer said he cannot be writing a report every time she has a complaint, unless it directly affects the welfare of the child.

_ Oct. 29 - An officer was dispatched to a Colby restaurant in reference to a suspicious person in the parking lot. The officer spoke to the manager, who said a male party has been parking in their lot several times a week and stays there for hours. The manager said this makes her employees nervous because they have to walk past his vehicle every time they leave.

The manager provided the vehicle’s license plate number, and the officer was familiar with the owner from past contacts. He noted that the man was not supposed to have contact or be near a relative who worked at a nearby gas station.

The officer approached the man while he was still in his vehicle. His seat was fully reclined and he appeared to be sleeping. The officer knocked on the window and woke him up. He paused something playing on his phone and then opened the door. When asked what he was doing there, the man said he was using the restaurant’s free Wi-fi signal to listen to something on his phone, and had fallen asleep.

The officer noted that the man could also use the free Wi-fi offered at the public library. The man said he uses the library’s Wi-fi as well and acknowledged that he did not need to be in the restaurant parking lot. He agreed to leave. The officer reminded him that he was not supposed to be “on or about” his relative’s place of employment. He was told to stay away in the future to avoid further issues. The officer recommended a charge of bail jumping.

_ Oct. 31 - An officer responded to an Abbotsford business in reference to a possible identity theft/fraud case. The officer spoke to a store employee who said she had received a phone call from a man who said three shipments of sanitizer were being shipped to the store, and that $1,900 needed to be deposited in an account in Mexico.

The store regularly provides money orders for customers whowanttosendmoneyabroad, and the employee believed what the caller said, so she deposited the $1,900 and paid a $20 fee. As part of the transaction, she said she also sent a copy of her driver’s license to a male party.

After the transaction was complete, the employee said she spoke to the store owner, who said she never placed an order for sanitizer. The employee provided the officer with phone numbers that were involved in the scam, along with a receipt for the transaction. The officer called the store owner and left a message on her voicemail.

_ Nov. 1 - An officer was dispatched to a residence on West Linden Street in Abbotsford in reference to a hit-and-run accident. The officer arrived and noticed a flatbed truck with a damaged rear-end and various vehicle parts lying on the bed and under the vehicle.

The officer spoke with the vehicle owner, who said the damage was done sometime over the past night. The lip of the flatbed was bent in toward the cab of the truck, but the officer did not see any paint transfer. Based on the pieces left behind, the officer believed the striking vehicle would have extensive damage to the passenger’s side tire well and door area.

The officer found a vehicle part with an ID number on it, and he took it to a nearby body shop to get it identified. A shop employee looked it up and said it belonged to a Dodge Nitro SUV built between 2007 and 2011. The officer looked for a vehicle matching that description in the area, but did not find one.