Law Enforcement

n December 22 - An officer was working in Colby when he observed a vehicle traveling well above the posted speed limit of 30 mph. The officer observed the vehicle traveling 91 mph and when the officer pulled in behind the vehicle, the vehicle in question applied its brakes. The officer initiated a traffic stop and turned west into the Colby Lions Shelter parking lot.

The officer made contact with the driver and immediately recognized the driver from previous law enforcement contacts. The driver told the officer he did not know why he was being pulled over but then said, “speed.” The officer asked the driver where he was coming from. The driver said he was coming from his ex-girlfriend’s house in Colby as he was dropping off some of her clothes. The driver said he was traveling to the Lion’s Shelter to pick up a friend as there was an event going on. The officer could smell the odor of alcohol coming from inside the vehicle and observed the driver’s eyes to be glossy. The driver said he had a little to drink but struggled to give his date of birth to the officer.

The driver agreed to perform field sobriety tests and a preliminary breath test which came back with a 0.149 result. The driver was placed under arrest for operating while under the influence and was placed in the officer’s squad car. The officer searched the vehicle for alcohol and found a bottle of tequila on the front passenger floorboard.

The driver was issued citations for exceeding speed zones 45+ mph, operating while suspended, operating while under the influence and operating with a prohibited alcohol concentration. The driver’s mother then arrived at the police department to take responsibility of the individual.

n December 22 - Dispatch advised a CAPD officer that a man was at a bar in Abbotsford and was not supposed to be there. Dispatch said the man was bothering people and has orders not to be in the bar. Two officers entered the bar and made contact with the man. The officers contacted a probation and parole officer who said they would not be placing a hold on the man. The officer told the man to go home and also spoke with the bartender telling him to contact the department if the man returned.

A short time later, the officers received another call stating the man came back and would not leave. The officer again called probation and parole and was told they would not be placing a hold on the man. The bar tender took the man to the man’s residence in Abbotsford in hopes of the issue being resolved.

n December 25 - An officer was notified of a 911 call in which a person called stating that the family’s brother had too much to drink at Christmas and was trying to leave. He was fighting with family and nothing turned physical other than another sibling wrestling him to the ground.

The family members stated that if the man was taken home, he would end up wandering around and possibly hurting himself. The man had a pocket knife but the family members took it from him.

The family members were eventually able to get the man into the car and headed home without law enforcement intervention but said they would call if an issue persisted.

n December 26 - An officer was made aware of an individual that had a felony warrant through Clark County. The officer knocked on the door and met with a female who said she would get the man the officers were looking for. The man was told he had a warrant for his arrest and the man said he did not know he had a warrant. Dispatch confirmed that the Clark County warrant for felony child abuse was valid and the man was taken into custody. The man was transported to the Clark County Jail without incident.

n December 27 - An officer was made aware of suspicious activity by a resident of Colby. The resident said that she received two packages in the mail and upon opening them, found each contained ziploc bags of suspected feces. The resident said she had a stalker from previous internet chat rooms but did not know any information about them at all other than suspecting them to reside in Chicago, Ill.

One package had a UPS label but came via the postal service while the other actually required a signature to receive. One came from a Pennsylvania address while the other was from another country according to their labels. The resident said she just wanted to make a report in case this happened to other people or continued. The resident was advised to dispose of the packages and notify the CAPD if they continued to show up.

n December 28 - An officer was investigating an assault that occurred the day before. During the investigation, the officer spoke to a man who had an active Marathon County body or bond warrant for failure to appear - criminal trespassing. The officer spoke to the man about the incident and informed him of the warrant. The man said he was aware of something regarding a trespassing complaint.

The warrant was confirmed and the man was taken into custody. The man then posted the bond amount and was given a mandatory court date. The man was then released.

n December 30 - An officer was dispatched to a bar in Abbotsford for a trespassing complaint. The officer made contact with the owner of the bar who said there was an individual inside of his bar who was using his phone by the gambling machines.

The owner said there is a sign by the machines that says you can not use your phone near the gambling machines and the owner said he would like the individual to leave the bar. The officer then made contact with the man who was agitated because he said the bar owner owes him $200 from winning on one of the gambling machines. The officer informed the man he would have to take the bar owner to civil court as the officer cannot force the owner to pay the man. The man said he understood and said he understood that he is not welcome back at the bar.

n December 31 - An officer was driving in Abbotsford and observed a vehicle in front of him. The officer ran the registration through dispatch and the vehicle came back as having an owner that had no valid driver’s license. The officer conducted a traffic stop of the vehicle and met with the driver.

The officer immediately smelled the odor of alcohol coming from the driver’s breath. The officer saw several bottles of beer laying on the rear passenger floor. The man said he had one beer that night and the officer asked the man if he’d be willing to perform standardized field sobriety tests.

The man agreed and also agreed to a preliminary breath test. The result of the breath test was 0.154. The man was placed under arrest and transported to the Colby-Abbotsford Police Department. He was then cited for operating without a valid license, operating while under the influence and operating with a prohibited alcohol concentration. The man was then released to a responsible party.

n January 1 - Two officers were dispatched to a traffic complaint in Colby. The officers were advised that the 911 caller observed a vehicle traveling south on Hwy. 13 and was traveling in the wrong lane of travel, crossing the centerline of the roadway. The caller advised the vehicle had pulled into an apartment complex in Colby and the male individual exited his vehicle and began urinating.

The officer arrived and observed the vehicle in question to be parked at the apartment complex without a driver inside. A man then approached the officer and the man said the vehicle was his. The man then produced a key and locked the vehicle. The man said he was traveling from his girlfriend’s house in Abbotsford. The man was unsteady on his feet and had the strong odor of alcohol coming from his person. The man gave the officer an ID card and said he had six beers. The man agreed to perform field sobriety tests to ensure he was safe to drive. The officer then walked him over to a concrete surface that was flat and asked again if he would perform the test. The man said, “No, I’m drunk.” The officer confirmed that the man did not want to perform the tests and placed him under arrest for operating while under the influence.

The man was transported to the Colby-Abbotsford Police Department where he was cited for operating while under the influence, operating with a prohibited alcohol concentration and operating left of center. Another officer met with the caller to obtain a written statement from the caller’s view of the man’s driving.

The man was then released to a responsible party.

n January 1 - An officer was dispatched to a residence in Abbotsford for a disturbance. The officer arrived on-scene and met with a man who was standing outside of the residence by the garage door. Before the officer said anything to him, the man gave the officer a pipe and said it was a marijuana pipe with marijuana inside and said he had nothing to hide.

The officer asked the man what had happened that night. The man said he got into an argument with his girlfriend. The man said he and his girlfriend went to a local bar around 5 p.m. the night prior. The man said he returned back to his residence with his girlfriend at 3 a.m. The man said he noticed earlier in the day that his girlfriend was friends with some people on social media that he did not agree with. The man said he thought maybe his girlfriend had a backup plan to get out of the relationship.

The man said when he arrived back to his residence, that is when the argument occurred. The man said he was upset about the woman being distant from him and acting weird. The man said after yelling at the woman, she then walked downstairs to the basement. The man then started to break his kitchen table.

The officer asked the man if he got physical with the woman that night. He said he did not. The officer then went inside and spoke to the woman involved who echoed the man’s story about the night’s events. Both parties agreed that there would not be any other issues that night and the officer left them for the night. While back at the police department, the officer tested the pipe and substance inside for marijuana. Both substances tested positive for marijuana and the man was issued a citation for possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.