Law Enforcement

n January 3 - An officer was asked to go to a residence in Colby in reference to a littering complaint. The officer was told that the department received a call from the Colby City Hall regarding trash that is next to a dumpster at this address and is blowing around. The officer was told that the owner of the building has been warned by the department and the Colby DPW about this situation multiple times in the past.

The officer went to the address and saw a dumpster in the alleyway with signs stating it was for the suspected address along with two other properties. The officer observed four bags of trash next to the dumpster and unbagged trash laying next to the bags. There was also trash blown around the alleyway. The officer called the property owner and asked that he call the officer back.

Later that day, the officer spoke to the man on the phone. The officer explained the situation. The man said that there has been scheduling issues with Waste Management and they keep pushing the pick up day back on him. The man said that he has been making an effort to solve the garbage issue but can only get so far with Waste Management.

While on the phone with the man, he checked the dumpster using his security cameras and said that it appears that the dumpster was emptied at some point today. The man said he could see one bag of trash outside of the dumpster but does not know why it is not in the dumpster. The officer told the man that if he has problems with nontenants using the dumpsters designated for his property that he can call the department and the officers can speak to them.

The officer explained that because the man had been warned by the police department and DPW multiple times regarding the issue, he would be mailed a citation for littering.

n January 5 - An officer was dispatched to a residence in Abbotsford in reference to a threat complaint. The officer met with a man who said that he did not get along with his neighbor. The man said he and his neighbor have argued in the past and the neighbor frequently has extreme outbursts with other residents as well due to him having PTSD.

The man said that day the neighbor had come up to him asking about his prior service in the military. The neighbor did not believe that he had served and asked what his job was. The man told his neighbor he repaired turrets for tanks and the neighbor said that did not answer his question and continued asking about his service. The man continued to repeat what he had initially told the neighbor but the answer didn’t satisfy the neighbor and he began yelling that the man was not actually a veteran as he was unable to answer the question correctly.

The man said he was tired of his neighbor and was not going to back down as he was yelling. The man said the neighbor threw his jacket on the hallway floor inside the building and threatened that he would kill him right where he stood. The man said he walked outside and the man did not follow. The man wanted the incident reported as he was fearful that the neighbor would eventually snap and try to hurt him.

The officer went to the neighbor’s apartment and spoke with him. The man said he had heard from another resident that the complainant was claiming to be a veteran and being one himself, he wanted to see what the complainant had done. The man met the complainant near the mailboxes inside and asked him about his job.

The man called the complainant out for lying about his prior service and told him he was committing stolen valor which the man explained was a federal offense and one that he took major offense to.

The man said he threatened to beat the complainant up in the hallway but said he never threatened to kill the man.

Both the men agreed to keep their distance from each other and not have any further issues.

n January 5 - An officer took a noise complaint from a resident in Abbotsford. The officer met with the owners of a local business who said they were having issues with vehicles parking in front of their store and blaring music very loud and that it was clearly audible inside the store.

The owner said that she had gone outside to speak with the driver of the vehicle about stopping the behavior and he flipped her off.

The woman said she took a video of the license plate and said that the vehicle had since left. The woman asked that the officer speak to the driver about the behavior as it was affecting their customers.

The officer ran the plate which returned to a woman and man matching the vehicle in the video. The officer was able to get a phone number for the female owner and spoke with her over the phone.

The officer told her to speak with her husband about stopping the behavior to avoid citations for unnecessary noise. The woman said she would.

n January 6 - An officer was dispatched to a residence in Abbotsford to speak with a mother regarding her son being under the influence of alcohol and drugs. The officer met with three individuals including a 19-year-old woman who said her grandmother and a 23-year-old man came to the residence after her grandmother’s son was drunk and high at their residence.

The officer was told that the man who was drunk and high at their residence was being loud and moving furniture in the residence. The grandmother was worried the situation would escalate inside the residence as the man who was drunk and high sometimes says disrespectful things to her and the 23-year-old man stands up for her. The grandmother and 23-year-old man left to avoid the escalation of any situation.

The officer drove to the residence that the family had left to meet with the man causing the disturbance. The officer observed a sliding glass door to the residence to be open and the strong odor of marijuana was coming from inside the house. The officer observed the man in question sitting in a folding chair facing the officer. The man did not see the officer. The officer saw the man holding a blunt-style wrap in his hand and then licked the wrap to seal it.

The officer announced to the man that he was there and entered the house. The officer asked the man to hand him the wrap and he did so. The officer observed the wrap to be packed with a green, leafy substance which was possibly marijuana. The officer spoke to the man about the complaint and the officer was not able to gather much information from the man due to his state of intoxication.

The man consented to a preliminary breath test which had a result of 0.19. The officer called the on-call probation agent and a hold was authorized for the man. The officer transported the man to the Marathon County Jail and he was issued a citation for possession of marijuana.

n January 7 - An officer was made aware of a noise complaint at a residence in Abbotsford. The officer rounded the corner and could hear music coming from a residence. The officer attempted to knock on the door to the garage where the music was coming from and could not hear his pounding on the door through the music.

The officer made contact with a female and told her that the music was way too loud even for the time of day and it was disturbing the neighbors. The woman agreed and said she had yelled at her husband for the music once already. The woman yelled into the house for her husband to turn the music down and she was warned for the noise.