By Sgt. Bob Vatamaniuck

The past week the Columbia Valley RCMP received about 50 calls for service; last year we were quite busier as we responded to about 85 calls during the same period.  The following is a small but interesting sample of this week’s calls.

Locked in

On September 22, at about 6:30 p.m., Columbia Valley RCMP was dispatched to an Invermere store where two custodial personnel had locked themselves inside and could not get out.  RCMP attended the scene and upon arrival spoke through the door with the custodial staff.  The stated that they were unable to leave as the doors were locked and the keys were not inside with them.  Luckily, the owner was contacted and arrived a short time later.  The owner was able to unlock the rear door allowing custodians to leave and end police involvement.

Impaired driver stopped

During the very early morning hours of September 23, RCMP officers were downtown Invermere when they noted a vehicle emerge from an alleyway; the vehicle came to a stop at the end of the alleyway and sat there parked for an extended period of time.  Eventually the vehicle then pulled out and made a very quick turn squealing its tires in the process.

Now having their attention, the RCMP followed the vehicle and eventually pulled it over. The constable spoke with the female driver who admitted to consuming one or two drinks and had signs of alcohol impairment such as glossy eyes, slurred speech and an odour of liquor on her breath.  After some further conversation the driver then corrected herself declaring that she actually had four drinks prior to driving. The constable formed the belief that the driver’s ability to operate a motor vehicle was impaired and demanded she provide samples of her breath into an approved screening device.  The driver provided two samples, both resulted in a FAIL reading. Consequently, she lost her licence for 90 days and the vehicle that belonged to someone else was impounded for 30 days.

And then another impaired driver stopped

Later that night RCMP members were on another patrol on the streets of Invermere when they noted a red Honda Civic travelling toward the downtown core with no tail lights illuminated. Wishing to bring the behaviour to the attention of the driver the RCMP members pulled the car over.  As they were approaching the car they could immediately detect an odour of liquor emanating from inside the vehicle.  The driver stated he had consumed no alcohol and that the lone passenger was the source of the odour. In order to separate the driver from the odour-filled vehicle, he was asked to speak to the police outside.  While outside the driver then admitted that he consumed two or three beer prior to getting behind the wheel.  Consequently, the driver was demanded to provide samples of his breath into an approved screening device.  He provided two samples, both of which resulted in a FAIL reading.  Subsequently, his license was seized for 90 days and the vehicle was impounded for 30 days.

We wish to thank everyone for obeying the fire embargo

Now that the campfire ban is over I took the opportunity to have a look to see how many calls for service we had surrounding the ban. Throughout the entire ban we responded to 37 calls directly related to the ban.  Thirty-five of those 37 turned out to be fires that were allowed; that is, propane or other acceptable flames.  The two other fires surrounded contraventions and were appropriately investigated and fines levied.

We wish to thank everyone for obeying the fire embargo and I’m sure there was plenty of “Samaritan” policing done behind the scenes.  Without doubt there were neighbours reminding neighbours about the ban and extinguishing fires before any emergency personnel were ever called.

The Case of the Breakfast Bound Bandits

These fall days remind me of a cool autumn day when I was serving in northern Alberta.

I was the only member on shift when I got a call to investigate a break and enter. I was astonished that the only thing taken was some potatoes.

While I was wrapping up that complaint I was called down the street to another break and enter where some bacon was taken from a deep freeze.  Then, when clearing from that investigation I got a call from a neighbour claiming there were two strangers going into a nearby house and the homeowners were not at home.

Cautiously, I snuck into the home hoping to catch the culprits in the act of being in the house.  When I crept into the kitchen I found two males; each of them sitting at the kitchen table – asleep.

The potatoes were on their laps and the bacon underneath their bottoms as they were trying to quickly thaw it.  While they were sleeping I handcuffed them together, took some pictures for evidence and eventually woke them advising them they were under arrest.

I was able to solve three break and enters in about 30 minutes. These are the astute investigative skills that I try to instil on the younger RCMP members here every day, although I’m not sure they have my talent for apprehending offenders who have stolen groceries…including frozen buns.

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