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Columbia Valley RCMP Report
By Sgt. Bob Vatamaniuck
This week the Columbia Valley RCMP responded to about 60 calls for service; last year that number was about 70. The following is a summary of a couple of the more interesting calls.
Spray paint vandals strike
On October 17, Columbia Valley RCMP was alerted to a number of properties that were damaged by spray paint sometime overnight. The vandals spray-painted areas in and around the skate park shed, as well as property near JA Laird Elementary School. The paint was on multiple surfaces outside including the exterior of the structures and the interior of the female washroom at the skate park. A number of different colours were used and the cleanup was painstaking. If anyone has any information on who may be responsible, they are asked to contact the detachment or call Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
Unwanted visitor
During the early morning hours of October 20 RCMP received dispatch of an unwanted person at a residential address in Invermere. The complainant reported that an unknown male had walked into her residence and that he appeared to be intoxicated. She went on to report that her husband had just left for work and she heard someone enter the house and believed he had returned. However, when she came out to get a glass of water she noticed a strange male in his 30s standing in the entryway. She advised that he must have come through the unlocked door and he did not attempt to enter the house any further than the entryway. The unknown male left when she told him to get out. The RCMP conducted extensive patrols in the area for the male however he was not located.
Impaired on Westside Road
At about 8 p.m. on October 21, Columbia Valley RCMP was assisting the BC Conservation Officer Service with a call on Westside Road near Radium Hot Springs when an officer noted a driver was too impaired to be operating a vehicle. The RCMP was conducting patrols and stopping vehicles while looking for a suspicious person when a Ford F150 pulled up to speak to the officer. Immediately upon conversing with the driver the RCMP could smell a strong smell of liquor coming from the cab of the truck. The RCMP then asked the driver if he had been drinking, to which the driver replied that he had and “probably too much to be driving.”
Consequently, after providing two samples into an approved screening device, which registered as a “Fail”, the officer seized his driver’s licence for 90 days and impounded the truck for 30 days. An officer then drove the man home.
Poor conditions blamed for two-vehicle crash in KNP
On October 22, at about 11 a.m., Columbia Valley RCMP received a complaint surrounding a two-vehicle collision on Highway 93 near Numa Falls in the Kootenay National Park. It was determined that a Blue Toyota Tacoma had been driving westbound on snow covered roads when it began to lose control and drove into the eastbound lane where it struck a 2018 Dodge Durango before coming to rest in the eastbound ditch.
The occupants suffered minor injuries and were subsequently transported to the Invermere and District Hospital and Banff Hospital by the Ambulance Service. Witnesses reported that they were following the Toyota Tacoma and that it was driving at a reasonable speed. It was snowing heavily and roads were slippery at the time of the collision. The Tacoma was equipped with mud and snow tires but was only in two-wheel drive at the time of the collision. Witness reports and investigator observation dictated that road conditions were extremely poor in area where the collision occurred and contributed to the collision; therefore, no violation tickets were issued.
– Sgt. Bob Vatamaniuck is commander of the Columbia Valley RCMP Detachment
