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COLBY-ABBOTSFORD POLICE LOG

_ Oct. 8 - An officer met with an employee of an Abbotsford business who wanted to file a theft-by-fraud complaint. She said a man had called and wanted the company to bid on two pieces of farm equipment at an auction in September. The caller authorized the company to bid up to $4,900 for a manure spreader and $300 for a set of skidsteer tracks.

The company owner successfully bid on the two items, and the man who called said he would put a check in the mail. When the check did not arrive, the company contacted the customer. He provided an address that turned out to be an abandoned residence, and he also lied about getting a loan through a local bank.

The complainant said her company contacted the auction house and were told that someone had already come and picked up the spreader and the tracks. Two anonymous individuals also told police that they had seen a farmer near Chili using a new manure spreader after his old one broke. It matched the description of the one from the auction.

On Oct. 18, an officer contacted the farmer, pretending to be from the business that bid on the items, and said they wanted them back. The suspect provided a false name and the wrong address for the items to be picked up at. The officer then identified himself as law enforcement and threatened to get a search warrant to recover the items. The officer also told him that he would be arrested if he did not return the spreader by 1 p.m. that day.

The suspect’s wife came to the farm while the officer was there and brought the spreader out of the barn. The officer asked her about the skid steer tracks, but she didn’t know anything about those. The officer called the suspect again, and he said it would take awhile to get the tracks off his skidsteer. He promised to drop them off at the Abbotsford business once he had done so.

Arrangements were made for the company owner to come and pick up the spreader. A charge of theft-by-fraud was recommended for the suspect.

_ Oct. 23 - An officer was running radar in Abbotsford when he heard a man outside a nearby residence yelling at someone to “give me back my kids.” The offi cer met with the man, who was agitated and speaking loudly. After he calmed down, the man said he had given the woman at the residence permission to look after his two children, but now she is refusing to give them back. He said he was concerned about the woman or her friends using drugs around his children, based on information he had just received.

The officer called the woman in question and her sister answered. She said they were not interested in keeping the kids, but they were worried about the father’s state of mind. She said he had threatened to kill himself earlier by taking a bunch of pills. She said the children were safe at her house in Colby.

The officer asked the complainant about making suicidal comments. He said everything was fine, and he just wants his kids back. He agreed to follow the officer to the sister’s house to discuss the issue further. The officer had him wait out in his vehicle while he spoke to the two sisters who had his kids.

The woman who had agreed to watch the children for the day said she had taken them to a friend’s house where the cell phone reception was bad. She said the complainant was unable to get a hold of her during this time, which made him angry. She and her sister were worried about the father’s ability to take care of his children due to his mental state. They said the kids are always hungry and not properly cared for.

The officer told them that they could not keep the children away from their father. They agreed, and the kids were returned to him. The officer did not notice any signs of abuse, and the kids seemed OK going home with their dad. On the offi cer’s advice, the father spoke to a counselor at a mental health facility, who determined that he was fine on his own with the kids.

The officer spoke to the father about some of his ongoing issues. The father wanted to press charges related to the incident, though the officer disagreed with the need to do so. He agreed to talk to the police chief. The offi cer also spoke to the women again about their concerns with the children’s welfare. He said they could call protective services if they so wished, but he did not see problems at the father’s residence.

_ Oct. 24 - A woman reported seeing a man sleeping on one of the benches at the East Town Mall, and crying to himself. The caller was concerned that he might be homeless.

The officer spoke to the man, who said he came to the area from Puerto Rico and was looking for work. He said he had no money, no place to stay and no family in the area. He had already been given a voucher to stay at a local hotel, but the officer decided to give him a ride to the Salvation Army in Wausau, where he was dropped off.

_ Oct. 25 - An officer was dispatched to a Colby residence in reference to a criminal damage complaint. The reporting party said someone had smashed out one of their car windows the night before. The officer met with the complainant, who showed him where the rear passenger window had been smashed out. A small piece of wood could be seen on the floor of the vehicle covered in glass. It also appeared as if someone had tried to wedge something in the door jam, ripping off some of the vehicle’s exterior trim.

The complainant did not think anything of value had been taken from the vehicle. He also wondered why the person had tried breaking into the vehicle since it was unlocked. The officer photographed the damage and took the piece of wood as evidence.

_ Oct. 25 - Officers spoke to an apartment manager about a vehicle that had been parked at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Swamp Buck Drive for about a week, with a torn-off temporary tag. The manager said the vehicle belonged to a former tenant who had moved out. She did not know where he was living now. An officer checked with the department’s records and Clark County, but could not find a phone number for the vehicle owner.

The apartment manager also told officers about a second vehicle that had been abandoned by a former tenant two weeks ago. The vehicle, which had a flat tire, was registered to someone in Curtiss, but the officer remembered that the former tenant had shown him proof that the title was transferred to her after he pulled her over. The apartment manager did not have any contact information for her, either.

A towing company was called to remove the two vehicles, and while they were waiting, the offi cers had the K-9 do a sniff. The dog alerted to the smell of narcotics coming from one of the vehicles, and an officer used an unlock kit to gain access. A vape pen with THC juice in it was recovered, and a citation for possession of drug paraphernalia was mailed to the owner’s last known address.

_ Oct. 26 - An officer was dispatched to a Colby address in reference to a disturbance between neighbors. The caller said his neighbor was yelling at his wife for driving through a pile of leaves out on the street. The officer noted that the neighbors in question were involved in an ongoing series of disputes.

The officer first spoke to the man who had called to report the disturbance. He said he and his wife were returning home, and there was a large pile of leaves on the street in front of their neighbor’s house. As he was backing into his driveway, the complainant said he drove through the pile, which was taking up part of the street.

In response, he said his neighbor starting yelling at his wife, even though she wasn’t even the one driving. His wife told the neighbor to mind his own business. The couple said the neighbor continued to yell at her in a loud and threatening voice that drew the attention of other neighbors. They said they wanted him cited for harassment, but the officer said the behavior was more likely considered disorderly conduct.

The officer then went and talked to the neighbor, who admitted to yelling at the complainants. The officer told him that he needs to call the police instead of yelling at people if he has a problem. The neighbor apologized and said he was sorry about officers always having to respond to such minor incidents all the time. The neighbor agreed that the dispute with the complainants had to be settled and said there would be no further problems. The officer noted that the department had responded to the neighbors’ disputes and ordinance violations 10 times since February of 2018. Due to the neighbor causing a disturbance with his loud yelling, he was cited for disorderly conduct.

_ Oct. 26 - Officers were patrolling Shortner Park in Abbotsford when they noticed a vehicle with two occupants. The officers stopped and asked what they were doing there.

All four windows were rolled down, and officers could smell marijuana. When asked what they were doing there, the driver said he and his girlfriend were cleaning their car. They denied that there were any drugs in the vehicle and gave the officers permission to search it.

Razor blades were found in the center console, but the driver said those were used for cut­ting window tint from a roll he had in the trunk. A bottle of Visene eye drops was also found.

An officer also searched around the area outside the vehicle and found an apple with burnt residue on one end. The apple had been hollowed out and was still warm to the touch. The officer could smell marijuana, and the residue later tested positive for THC. The driver claimed it was not his, but his girlfriend told the second officer that it was. He was issued a citation for marijuana possession. The apple was confiscated.

_ Oct. 26 - Officers were dispatched to Colby High School in reference to an incident between two siblings. They spoke to the two parties involved, along with a witness who saw the encounter.

At first, one of the boys claimed that his brother had been put him in a choke hold, slammed him to the ground and tried dragging him toward their family’s car. The brother had been sent to get the boy, who was refusing to leave an event with the rest of his family.

Later, the boy changed his story and said his brother had pulled him by the shirt instead, and that he slipped and fell to the ground. He said he briefly had trouble breathing because his sweatshirt was being pulled tight around his neck. Officers warned both boys about their behavior and spoke to the mother about the incident, which was also reported to the school resource office.

_ Oct. 27 - Officers were dispatched to a Colby residence in reference to a report of suspicious activity. They spoke to a man who said he and his girlfriend were getting ready for bed when the motion light on their back porch came on. He said someone has to be pretty close to the house for the light to come on, so he checked and found that his overhead garage door was open. He was sure he had shut it when he got home.

The complainant said he checked but didn’t notice anything missing from the garage. Officers drove around the area but did not see anything suspicious.

_ Oct. 27 - An officer was dispatched to a Colby residence in reference to a dog bite. The officer met with a woman who said her dogs were fighting, and when she tried to pull them apart, one of them bit her finger bad enough that she needed to go to the hospital. The officer provided her with an animal bite form and advised her to follow the instructions for a 10-day observation quarantine.

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