Police blotter: A warlock scam and an unlucky ride

By Mika Rekai - Tuesday, December 11, 2012 at 11:08 AM - 0 Comments

British Columbia: A manager at the Red Lion Inn in Saanich faces five charges of aggravated assault after allegedly stabbing five employees with a pair of closed scissors at the hotel’s Jade Fountain Restaurant. Police say the manager, 52-year-old Zhi Wei Meng, who goes by the name Wally, then locked himself in an office, where they arrested him. There were no fatalities.

Alberta: A 32-year-old truck driver from Stettler was driving with a loaded rifle leaning against the passenger seat with the muzzle pointed at the roof. While making a U-turn, the rifle tipped over and went off. The bullet passed through the man’s stomach and out the door. He is in stable condition, but faces charges for reckless use of a firearm.

Saskatchewan: In late November police in northern Saskatchewan were called to investigate reports of a man driving a snowmobile while impaired, but the man went off-road and eluded them. The next day a 43-year-old snowmobiler, who police believe was the same man they were searching for, was found dead by his brother after his snowmobile crashed through the ice at Deschambault Lake.

Ontario: A Mississauga man who self-publishes a Spanish-language newspaper has been charged with fraud after a woman accused him of falsely posing as a spiritual healer and bilking her out of $14,000 for various spells. Gustavo Valencia Gomez, 40, a self-described warlock, allegedly convinced the 56-year-old woman her family was cursed and needed his services.

Newfoundland: The Mounties always get their man . . . eventually. An off-duty RCMP officer from Corner Brook was driving near Deer Lake when he picked up a hitchhiker. When the hitchhiker introduced himself as Ken Colson, the officer realized the man was a fraud suspect he had been pursuing for six years. The officer, Const. Des Burridge, quietly pulled over, identified himself and arrested Colson.

Police blotter: Pizza heists and theft by sword

By Gustavo Vieira - Monday, April 30, 2012 at 1:41 AM - 0 Comments

British Columbia: RCMP in Surrey are investigating after a number of pizza delivery drivers were robbed. In three recent incidents, a gang of teenagers ordered up more than $100 in pizza using undisclosed phone numbers and misleading addresses. When the drivers came with the pizza, the teens mugged them by threatening to assault the drivers with bear spray.

Saskatchewan: Two men wearing masks wielded a sword while robbing a store in Saskatoon last week. Shortly after, about eight blocks away from the scene of the crime, the police, acting on a tip from a witness, stopped a vehicle and recovered the sword, cash and other items from the car. Three men and a woman were arrested.

Ontario: Thieves chose the wrong house to try to break into recently. When they cut the phone line to Joel Matlin’s Toronto home, an electronic voice inside the house bellowed “phone line cut,” waking Matlin’s stepson. He yelled and scared off the trio. All the high-tech security system was provided by AlarmForce Industries, whose president is Joel Matlin. Police arrested three men in connection with the incident.

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Police blotter: one very bad driver, and a prisoner break

By Richard Warnica - Tuesday, February 28, 2012 at 8:00 AM - 0 Comments

British Columbia: A man arrested after crashing his friend’s Jaguar into a Victoria home was busted again eight hours later while driving the same friend’s minivan, this time with an open beer in hand. The driver, 51, first plowed the sports car into a home at 2 a.m., crashing through a storage area and pushing a bed—and its terrified occupants—up against a wall. He was arrested, charged and released, only to be picked up again hours later while cruising the streets in his friend’s Caravan.

Saskatchewan: An NDP campaigner accused of signing up 1,100 members of the Flying Dust and Waterhen Lake First Nations to his party without their knowledge pleaded guilty to attempting to utter forged documents. Ernest Morin, a former president of the provincial party’s Aboriginal wing, received a $3,000 fine. He was volunteering for then-leadership candidate Ernest Lingenfelter—who went on to lead the NDP to a crushing defeat in last November’s provincial election.

Ontario: Two men have been charged in a series of arsons that struck London massage parlours and one strip club. Famous Flesh Gordon’s, along with Virginia’s and the Blue Lagoon II, were torched on a single night. Police believe the crimes may be gang related; Flesh Gordon’s is owned by a Hells Angel.

Nunavut: A woman was arrested at the Iqaluit airport after police found 16 pounds of marijuana in her luggage. The pot was stuffed into empty snack boxes. Police released a photo after the bust with the goods lined up in vacuum-sealed bags in front of open containers of Thinsations, Premium Plus crackers and Pita Bites.

Nova Scotia: A shackled man escaped from a moving sheriff’s van in Dartmouth, leading police on a four-hour chase before eventually turning himself in. The man was seen trying to saw his irons off. Police believe he kicked out the back window of the van with his cowboy boots. Nobody noticed he was missing until they arrived at the courthouse.

Police blotter

By Alex Ballingall - Tuesday, November 22, 2011 at 10:45 AM - 0 Comments

British Columbia: RCMP in North Vancouver arrested an 18-year-old man they found in the trunk of a car he allegedly broke into. After receiving reports of a smashed car window, the Mounties searched the area with a canine unit, but didn’t come up with anything. It wasn’t until police brought the car back to its owner that they opened the trunk and found the man hiding inside.

Manitoba: A 37-year-old man was arrested in Winnipeg after he allegedly conned six families out of a total of $5,000. Police say he posed as a furnace repairman, making cold calls to offer his services. In most instances he didn’t do any tinkering and simply took people’s money. But in one case, police say he installed a faulty valve that could have caused a carbon monoxide leak.

Ontario: A 24-year-old Toronto drug smuggler was banished from Windsor and surrounding Essex County after he was convicted of travelling with crack cocaine shoved into his rectum. A judge in Windsor concluded that her city doesn’t need any more drug mules. “Drugs, guns—we have it up to here,” she said.

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A cop car towed and a granny robbed

By Emma Teitel - Tuesday, July 26, 2011 at 11:00 AM - 0 Comments

Prince Edward Island: A 45-year-old French Village farmer has been charged with obstructing an officer, uttering threats, assault with a weapon and mischief under $5,000. RCMP detained the farmer after he towed the local sheriff’s car off his property with a tractor. The sheriff was there to seize the farmer’s property; he maintains the warrant was not lawful.

Nova Scotia: A Halifax man has been charged with five criminal offences including breaking and entering, larceny and possession of stolen goods. The 39-year-old had been on the run for a year when Halifax police dogs tracked his scent to Country Club Road. He was carrying two white bags—alleged spoils from a recent robbery.

Ontario: A 46-year-old Toronto caregiver has been charged with 12 counts of fraud for stealing $100,000 from the elderly woman she was hired to look after. Police say the caregiver filled out cheques in her own name, then had the 87-year-old woman sign them. The caregiver was arrested when the victim’s family noticed large sums of money missing from her bank account.

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Good thing he didn't spill his coffee

By macleans.ca - Thursday, December 16, 2010 at 4:40 PM - 0 Comments

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New Brunswick: Three volunteer firefighters are among five people facing multiple charges of arson in Doaktown, N.B. (pop. 900). The men are accused of torching a number of unoccupied buildings in November 2008 and November 2009. One of the buildings, Billy Bob’s Bar, was set on fire less than one week before last year’s Firefighters’ Breakfast.

Ontario: A 22-year-old man is facing several charges, including possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana, breach of probation, impaired driving, failing to submit to a drug evaluation, and taking a motor vehicle without consent—all after he drove away from a Tim Hortons in Paris, Ont. Staff alerted police after the man went through the drive-through naked.

Manitoba: The same week Saskatchewan Roughriders linebacker Cory Huclack tried unsuccessfully to earn a Grey Cup ring, police were hunting for his father Dan’s stolen gold band—and the guys who stole it. Dan, a former Winnipeg Blue Bomber, had just left the doctor’s office when he felt a gun pressed against his back. Two men demanded money. He gave them $40. Then they kicked him in the groin, knocked him down, and stole the ring he had won when the Bombers beat the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1984.

Alberta: A 28-year-old Calgary man was charged with drinking and driving, and avoiding police officers, all while behind the wheel of a snowmobile. The man had sped by the RCMP detachment in Turner Valley twice on his sled before officers decided to pursue him. The cops couldn’t catch him on his third run past the detachment, but he made their job easier when he crashed into some bushes.

British Columbia: A 22-year-old Vancouver man tried to hold up Duffin Donuts with a knife. When police arrived, they found the man, who they say was intoxicated, slumped over with a puncture wound in his abdomen. He apparently passed out on his own knife.

Stealing signs and a sucker punch

By macleans.ca - Thursday, October 28, 2010 at 4:40 PM - 0 Comments

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Quebec: A Montreal court heard the reason why a man charged with improper storage of a firearm had a collection of guns: he feared elves were stalking him. The man, who passed a criminologist’s initial evaluation on his fitness to stand trial, is also charged with uttering threats. He allegedly threatened to kill his former teachers, as well as fellow students, online.

Ontario: Toronto police stopped and later charged a man with stealing 41 election signs of councillor Adam Vaughan. Though the signs, taken from yards in Vaughan’s ward, were returned to the politician, some had been defaced.

Saskatchewan: An 18-year-old plowed into a ground-floor window of Regina’s Luther College High School, shearing the roof off the vehicle. After smashing through the window, the car dropped more than a metre into the visual arts room. The damage is estimated at more than $20,000. Charges are expected for the teen, who doesn’t go to the school.

Alberta: After stopping at the scene of a car accident to offer assistance, a good Samaritan in Calgary was allegedly punched in the face and had her car stolen by the driver at fault. The man, who police say later crashed her car into a lamppost before fleeing on foot, was apprehended and has been charged with robbery, common nuisance endangering life, and two counts of hit and run. The good Samaritan will need dental surgery.

British Columbia: RCMP officers found four pipe bombs in a car following a routine traffic stop. After seeing possible stolen goods in the vehicle, the police conducted an inspection, which turned up what looked like explosive devices. A disposal unit was flown in to detonate the devices. “Three were live and one was not yet complete,” says Const. Gary Godwin. Two men were arrested. Police are considering charges.

A free-rider; troubadour gone bad?

By macleans.ca - Thursday, August 26, 2010 at 3:00 PM - 0 Comments

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Nova Scotia: After she was accused of shoplifting at a Dartmouth Dollarama, a 19-year-old woman allegedly threatened the store’s manager with a pair of scissors and assaulted a customer who tried to intervene. The accused fled the scene, but was arrested shortly afterwards when she returned to the store to retrieve something she left behind. She was charged with two counts of theft under $5,000, two counts of assault, possession of stolen goods and assault with a weapon.

Ontario: A nearly-naked Hamilton man was charged with flight from police, dangerous driving and failing to wear a helmet after police caught him taking an early morning motorcycle ride wearing only a T-shirt. The 40-year-old allegedly sped away when he saw an officer. He was finally arrested after getting off the bike.

Saskatchewan: A 23-year-old Regina man was charged with two counts of assault with a weapon—and with breaching a no-contact order—after allegedly assaulting his girlfriend and her sister with a guitar. The man had been arrested the previous day for allegedly punching his girlfriend and had been ordered to stay away from her.

Alberta: Police in Calgary are looking for four men in connection with a violent home invasion during which part of the homeowner’s ear was severed. Police believe the intruders entered the house carrying handguns and wearing blue coveralls and balaclavas. The victim is recovering after suffering “minor injuries,” the police reported.

British Columbia: Police arrested a Nanaimo man after he refused to come down from a roof. Police claim the 23-year-old became paranoid after smoking drugs, climbed onto the roof, and started setting off flares. The man jumped onto live hydro wires, where he hung for four hours before jumping onto a police cruiser. He has been charged with mischief, obstructing a peace officer and possession of a weapon dangerous to the public peace.

Bank robber, Armed with roses

By macleans.ca - Thursday, June 10, 2010 at 1:20 PM - 1 Comment

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British Columbia: Three men were arrested last week after the RCMP busted a $2.2-million marijuana grow op—18,000 plants, 20 greenhouses—in Eaglet Lake, near Prince George. Authorities say the operation may be the biggest of its kind to be uncovered in the province’s history. The next day, RCMP in Williams Lake arrested five men in connection with a 9,000-plant grow op.

Alberta: A man in his forties, armed with a bouquet of roses, is wanted for a mid-afternoon robbery last week of a Royal Bank branch in Calgary. He escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash.

Manitoba: Two Carberry, Man., men are facing charges in connection with the theft of a tractor from a farm in southern Manitoba. The men are accused of taking the tractor, worth an estimated $180,000, for a joyride, resulting in extensive damage, after finding the keys inside.

Ontario: Four people were robbed in downtown Toronto last week by a team of thieves who splash feces on their victims’ clothes when they’re not looking. After the squirt-bottle attack, some members act as a distraction by pointing out the soiled clothes and offer to help clean them. That’s when another member swoops in after the money.

Newfoundland: A 30-year-old, who allegedly bit off part of one man’s ear and head-butted another man at a St. John’s bar last week, was charged with aggravated assault and uttering threats. The man had been under house arrest for a 2008 conviction and, as part of that sentence, was required to steer clear of three downtown bars. But not Spin on George Street, where last week’s alleged incident took place.

Nova Scotia: The Truro Justice Centre was broken into last week and an undisclosed amount of money was stolen from the offices where motor vehicle fines are paid. Also in that building—the local sheriff’s office.