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Man pushes luck too far
Columbia Valley RCMP Report
While conducting patrols in the Invermere area April 13, a pickup truck driven by a male known to not possess a driver’s licence drove past the police vehicle at 3:15 p.m. The patrol vehicle turned around and activated the emergency light. The truck was stopped at Laurier and 4th Ave. The 50-year-old male displayed signs of having consumed liquor. An ASD demand was made and the male blew a fail. The male refused to provide a breath sample when the breath demand was given. The vehicle was determined to be without insurance and had fake decals on the plate. The two plates on the truck were determined to be false plates. The male will be appearing in Invermere Provincial Court on June 4, charged with impaired driving and refusing a breath test. The male was also charged with driving without insurance and driving without a driver’s licence.
No injuries in Invermere crash
Columbia Valley RCMP Detachment members April 13 responded to a two vehicle accident at the intersection of 13th Street and 8th Avenue, at 9 a.m. Investigation revealed that a 2001 Toyota Celica operated by a 17-year-old female from Radium Hot Springs stopped at the intersection but then proceeded forward, failing to yield to a 1999 Dodge Stratus driven by a 31-year-old female from Invermere who was proceeding through on 13th St. No injuries were reported. The driver of the Toyota was charged with fail to yield after stop under the Motor Vehicle Act.
Police follow van theft to hospital
On April 15 Columbia Valley Detachment was advised of a ‘97 Ford van that was off the road in the 2700 block of Westside Road in Fairmont Hot Springs. Police determined that the accident happened the previous night at approx 11:45 p.m. While investigating the accident it was determined that the vehicle was stolen from Resort Villa in Fairmont and it was determined that the driver at the time of the accident was a 37-year-old male. The male had been driven to the Invermere and District Hospital in regards to minor injuries. The male was located and arrested for Possession of Stolen property. The male was also charged with fail to keep right under the motor vehicle act.
Trying to re-boot Citizens on Patrol in Radium
I am meeting with a group of citizens in Radium Hot Springs, at Meet at Higher Grounds on Sunday, April 22 at 10 a.m., who are interested in learning more about Citizens on Patrol. The hope is to revitalize this program in Radium. If you are interested in learning more please attend.
Volunteer Week
This week has been declared Volunteer week. Looking at our valley in whole we can all think of the number of volunteers upon who we rely. The Columbia Valley Detachment is a community onto its own and we also have our volunteers that we certainly depend on to assist us in providing service in the valley.
“The police are the people and the people are the police.” The police must form partnerships in the community. Two important philosophies of modern day policing in 1829, as quoted by Sir Robert Peel, in regards to policing; also commonly known as Community-based policing. Many of our initiatives in the valley could not continue if we did not have our dedicated volunteers. The members and staff at Columbia Valley Detachment greatly rely on a number of volunteers who work with the detachment. We have our Auxiliary Constable program, Citizens on Patrol, Rural Range Patrol, Restorative Justice and Victim Services. I also like to include our Guard and Matrons as well as our close working arrangement we have with our Search and Rescue volunteers. On behalf of the Detachment our thanks to all our volunteers who assist us in providing important services to the community.
Huge upset
At the time of writing this report the Canucks are down 3-0 versus the Kings and one would think if the Kings take the series that this would be a huge upset. This is not an upset. The detachment losing two games to one in a best of three in the Rotary Cup Floor Hockey Challenge with the high school kids, in my opinion, is an upset.
The kids won the first game 4-2. The second game was won by the RCMP 3-2. The boys didn’t count on me being there. For the entire year during regular season I lulled them to sleep thinking I was slow, overweight and simply not a threat to the point they would ignore me. A strategic ploy. I’m a playoff type player. I dropped two pounds to get into playoff shape and scored two goals in our 3-2 victory.
The game got a little rough with some stick play and bodies flying. Can’t blame the kids for taking the opportunity to roughhouse a bit. Hence, I had no second thoughts of the crotch blow to their goaltender.
For the final and deciding game the kids took note that I was in attendance and changed up their strategy. Long passes to each other wore me down. They also brought in Brendon Sage’s father to help ref the game. It was clear he was a homer and missed some calls that should have given us a couple of penalty shots. Bruins won the game 2-1 for the Championship. Goa tenders dual throughout the series. Great intensity by both teams. As much as it kills me to say this, congratulations Bruins, you changed strategies and stole the win from us. My thanks also to all the detachment members for taking the time to participate. Andrew, thanks for keeping us motivated. Few tweaks for next year and we regain the trophy. To the Bruin players, I would really be paying attention to your driving habits during the summer. We truly are sore losers.
S/Sgt. Marko Shehovac,
Columbia Valley RCMP Detachment NCO
