By Sgt. Bob Vatamaniuck

During the past week Columbia Valley RCMP responded to about 90 calls for service. The following is an interesting sample of those calls.

Alcohol involved in Canal Flats crash

On August 8, at about 10 p.m., Columbia Valley RCMP was advised of motor vehicle incident in Canal Flats.

The report described a male who was trapped in a black Ford F150 that was found flipped onto its passenger side. First responders treated the driver who was cleared medically and departed before police arrival. The passenger of the vehicle had sustained minor injuries and was still at the scene. The passenger claimed that he and the driver had consumed liquor down at the beach before deciding to depart in the truck.

The RCMP called the driver and insisted he return to the scene. When he walked back to the scene it was obvious that he had glossy eyes and odor of liquor on his breath and admitted to consuming three to four beers at the beach. Neither the driver nor passenger could account for why the vehicle went into the ditch. To prevent any furtherance of offence the driver was demanded to provide samples of his breath in an approved screening device; the samples resulted in WARN. The driver was subsequently issued 24 hour driving prohibition and a violation ticket for having no valid driver’s license.

Back up hit and run

During the day of August 10, a female had attended the Columbia Valley RCMP Detachment to report a hit and run that had occurred on August 7, at approximately 1 p.m. at the Red Apple parking lot in Invermere. She reported that there was damage to her grey 2013 Audi Q7.  The Audi was parked legally and not occupied. An unknown witness had advised that a white GMC Sierra driven by a lone female driver had backed into the Audi and departed.  Police are following up with the investigation.

Minor injuries in barbecue fire 

On August 10, at about 6 p.m., Columbia Valley RCMP received dispatch of a structure fire on Third Avenue in Invermere.

Police immediately attended to address and found the building had been evacuated upon arrival. The property representative approached RCMP and advised that the fire was out and it had been the barbecue in his rental unit that had caught fire.

Apparently he went to turn the barbecue on and the propane tank caught fire; he received minor burns.  Invermere Fire and Rescue and BC Ambulance soon arrived on scene. Fire personnel confirmed that the barbecue fire was out and removed the propane tank as they suspected it was faulty.

BC Ambulance assessed the property representative for the minor burns and he was released immediately. The building itself did not catch fire as it was contained to the barbecue.

A safer place to nap for drunk man

During the very early morning hours of August 12 Columbia Valley RCMP received a call indicating that a male had gained entry to a van and that the owner had apprehended the male and was holding him for police.

RCMP attended the scene and observed a male lying on the ground next to van with the vehicle owner standing next to him. It was obvious to police that the male on the ground was very intoxicated and wasn’t quite sure where he was and was looking for a place to sleep.

The 26-year-old drunk male was eventually identified and arrested for mischief. The responding RCMP officer spoke with the vehicle owner who confirmed that nothing had been taken from the van and there was no damage. The police escorted the male to the detachment where he was given a place to rest and sober up in safety.

Innovative fraud derailed

RCMP received a complaint August 12 surrounding an attempted fraud on a local corporation.

The innovative culprits had performed research and learned the names, organizational chart and probable financial signing authorities for the organization.  The fraudsters then made an email address that incorporated the identities of the signing authorities and began to email those that had control of the financial holding accounts and began directing them to send money from the holding account to a different generic account.  Fortunately the signing authorities ran into each other and began to ask questions about sending the money only to discover that it was an attempted fraud; please be careful when sending money.

– Sgt. Bob Vatamaniuck is commander of the Columbia Valley RCMP Detachment

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