CAPD officers make multiple OWI arrests over the weekend
Officers at the Colby-Abbotsford Police Department had a busy weekend after five alcohol-related incidents were reported between early Friday morning and Sunday morning.
At the CAPD police commission meeting on Monday night, Chief Jason Bauer said he didn’t have an explanation for the recent uptick in alcohol-related incidents but said it provided for a busy weekend for the department.
The arrests included the arrest of a 28-year-old Abbotsford man early Friday morning after he had struck a light pole in the Shell gas station parking lot. The traffic pole fell over and was laying on North Division Street when the officer arrived onscene.
The officer drove up to the vehicle and found the driver standing outside the driver’s side door of the vehicle, urinating on the ground. The officer drove up to the vehicle and the driver got back into the vehicle and began putting the vehicle in reverse in an attempt to leave the scene of the accident. The officer noted that due to the damage done to the vehicle, it was unable to be driven anymore.
The officer saw the man reaching around for something so he did not approach the vehicle and waited until a Clark County deputy arrived on-scene. When the deputy arrived, the CAPD officer conducted a high risk stop and yelled at the driver to exit the vehicle. The man did not and the officer yelled several more times to have the driver exit the vehicle with his hands in the air. The driver eventually exited and walked towards the officer with his hands in the air as he was stumbling and having a hard time walking.
While near the vehicle, the officer was able to smell a strong odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle and saw several open beer cans in the cup holder near the driver’s seat of the vehicle.
The man was placed under arrest, taken back to the CAPD after standardized field sobriety tests and a preliminary breath test were administered.
The man was issued citations for operating while under the influence (second offense), operating with a prohibited alcohol concentration (second offense), keeping open intoxicants in a motor vehicle and unsafe lane deviation.
On Friday night, officers stopped a vehicle with three occupants after they had ran a red light at an intersection in Abbotsford.
During the stop, the CAPD officer, along with a Loyal Police officer, searched the vehicle after smelling the odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle during the traffic stop. The officers found a pipe made out of an antler on the floor of the vehicle that had a burnt, green, leafy substance in the smoking bowl portion of the pipe. A pen was also located which had a green, leafy substance stuck to the sidewalls of the pen. The substance in the antler pipe weighed 0.52 grams and tested presumptively positive for THC.
The officer arrested the driver for operating while under the influence, violating a red traffic light, operating without a valid license and possession of drug paraphernalia.
During the early morning hours of Saturday, December 9, an officer was dispatched to a vehicle lockout in Abbotsford. The officer was advised that the vehicle was locked with the keys inside.
The officer arrived and met with two individuals who were the owners of the vehicle. The officer attempted to explain the paperwork for unlocking their vehicle. The officer approached the vehicle and shined his flashlight in the window and observed there to be two young males sleeping inside, one in the passenger’s seat and one in the driver’s seat. The officer asked the woman outside the vehicle who they were. The woman said one of them was her son. The officer knocked hard on the window and neither occupant woke up or moved.
The officer asked the woman how the vehicle got there and the woman said her son got into the vehicle to go to the store but never left. The officer asked the woman if she was aware of her son using any drugs or alcohol and she responded by saying “alcohol.” The woman said she did not know who the passenger was and when the officer asked if they should call an ambulance, the woman said she did not know.
The officer began knocking on the window of the vehicle again and after getting no response, the officer began Utilizing his vehicle unlock tools to open the door. Another officer responded to the area and shook the car back and forth then shined his flashlight in the passenger’s face. Finally, the passenger opened his eyes and the officers yelled for him to open the door. The passenger’s eyes were very heavy and he seemed disoriented. He eventually opened the door and the officer was able to open the driver’s side door. Both occupants of the vehicle exited and the officers began speaking to the two individuals.
One of the individuals was very lethargic and when asked why he was sleeping in the vehicle with the car running he said he was not sleeping he was on the phone. The officer told him that they could see they were both sleeping and asked if the individual had taken anything that made him pass out. The man said no he also said no to taking any drugs but said he had drank alcohol.
The individual agreed to provide a preliminary breath test but the officer was unable to acquire an adequate breath sample. During this time, the other officer had begun speaking to the other individual in the vehicle. The officer advised that he had observed a yellow vape with a thick liquid in the cartridge falling out of the individual’s right pocket when he was still sitting in the vehicle.
The officer secured the vape and asked the individuals if they needed medical attention. They said they did not. The officers were then dispatched to a higher priority call and they cleared the scene.
Later in the officer’s shift, the officer tested the vape cartridge for marijuana and it tested presumptively positive. The officer issued citations to both individuals. One received an underage drinking citation while the other was issued an underage drinking citation along with possession of marijuana.
Late Saturday night, an officer was on patrol in the city of Abbotsford when he observed a SUV turning south on Highway 13. The officer noticed the vehicle turned very wide and observed it to cross the center line of the road. The officer made a Uturn to follow the SUV and while following the vehicle, the SUV’s back tire hit the curb as it was taking a turn too sharply.
The officer continued to follow the vehicle and initiated a traffic stop of the vehicle on Highway 13. The officer made contact with the driver and upon approaching the driver side door the officer could smell a strong odor of intoxicants coming from inside the vehicle. The driver was holding two phones, one of which was on a call with someone. The officer could hear the person on the phone speaking with the driver while the driver was speaking into the wrong phone as he was trying to talk back to the person on the phone.
The officer asked the man to hang up the phone and he complied. When the man exited his vehicle he left his door wide open. The officer provided the man with a notebook so he could write his identifying information down and while within close proximity of the man the officer could smell the strong odor of intoxicants coming from his person.
The officer asked the man if he would be willing to perform a preliminary breath test along with standardized field sobriety tests and the man agreed. The result of the preliminary breath test was 0.232. The man was placed under arrest for operating while intoxicated and transported to the Colby-Abbotsford Police Department.
The man was issued citations for operating without a valid license, operating while under the influence and operating with a prohibited alcohol concentration before being released to a responsible party.
Finally, on Sunday, December 10 at about 2:45 a.m., an officer was on routine patrol in the city of Abbotsford when he observed an SUV traveling with no headlights activated. The officer performed a U-turn and initiated a traffic stop of the vehicle. The officer then made contact with the driver advising him of the reason for the stop. While speaking to the driver the officer could smell the strong odor of intoxicants coming from inside the vehicle.
The officer also observed an open beer bottle in the cup holder between the driver and passenger seat. The driver said he was heading home and had two beers to drink that night. The man agreed to perform field sobriety tests as well as a preliminary breath test. The result of the PBT was 0.184. The officer placed the man under arrest for operating while intoxicated and transported him to the Colby-Abbotsford Police department. The man was issued citations for operating without a valid license, operating while under the influence and operating with a prohibited alcohol concentration. He was then released to a responsible party.
