It was a significantly busy week for members of the Estevan Police Service (EPS) as evidenced by the information flowing to media over the past six days.
For instance, on Aug. 7, EPS members were asked to look into a bogus $20 bill being passed at a local business, a motor vehicle accident in the central part of the city (no injuries), some possible threats being made to an Estevan man via text messages and several complaints regarding careless drivers in and around the road construction zones in the north end of the city.
Before that shift was over, EPS members were tending to a man who was sleeping on a bench in the central area of the city. Investigation revealed he was not intoxicated, just tired. Police later arrested a 25-year-old man for being in breach of his court-ordered conditions by attending to a local lounge.
During the day shift, EPS members had looked into a report of willful damage at a restaurant in the west-central area, and a 28-year-old Winnipeg man who had passed out in the back of a truck in the north central area. There was also a single vehicle accident in the parking lot of a restaurant.
On the night shift Aug. 8, police responded to a call from a convenience store regarding the actions of an intoxicated 18-year-old woman who was refusing to leave the store. She was spoken to about her behaviour after she left the premises.
Police responded to a report of a dispute at a lounge in the north central area of the city. One of the men involved in the event was lodged in cells.
Two of the three young people found going through vehicles in the northeast area of the city, were spoken to by police. The 17 and 18-year-olds were not in possession of any stolen property, so were sent on their way.
A 39-year-old woman was charged with driving while impaired and driving while her blood-alcohol level was over .08 per cent. She was also lodged in cells until sober.
During the Aug. 7 and 8 period, a 53-year-old man was arrested for public intoxication after he was found walking on the railway tracks on the west side of the city.
Police were also called to a single vehicle accident that involved a rollover on 13th Avenue. The driver of the vehicle lost control of it and the skidding vehicle rolled over on its roof, taking out a tree and a streetlight. The two occupants fled the scene, but witnesses were able to describe the two men who had also appeared to have been consuming alcohol, which was found at the scene. The driver was subsequently found and was charged with driving while over .08 and now has a Sept. 30 court date.
On Aug. 8, a 20-year-old driver was charged with being in possession of less than 30 grams of a controlled substance and was charged accordingly.
Police also responded to a variety of reports that same night including an unattended fire pit blaze, driving complaints and a fight outside a lounge that resulted in the two combatants being housed in cells overnight after being charged with public intoxication.
An intoxicated man also attended to the police station on the night of Aug. 8, requesting a ride home. He was, instead, escorted to a cell for the evening for his own protection.
During the day and night shifts of Aug. 9, EPS members carried out a traffic awareness blitz that focused most of their attention to drivers using cellphones while driving or not being buckled up.
There was also attention being paid to intersection violations. Police report that they issued a total of 34 tickets during the blitz period.
On the night of Aug. 9, EPS members handled more than the usual number of impaired driving incidents beginning with a 46-year-old man who left a lounge under the influence. He was given a 24-hour licence suspension.
Less than a half-hour later a 47-year-old man was arrested and charged with impaired driving and driving while over .08. An hour and a half after that event, another impaired driver was stopped and charged with being over .08 per cent. The 53-year-old was observed leaving a baseball field in an intoxicated state.
Another impaired driver surfaced about three hours later. The 45-year-old was also charged accordingly as was a fifth impaired driver who was picked up, thanks to a Report Impaired Driver (RID) call after he was spotted leaving a convenience store and getting into a vehicle and driving away. The 26-year-old was also charged for impaired driving and driving while over .08 per cent.
A loud garage party on the city's northeast side, was visited by police after they received a complaint from the neighbourhood. The 24-year-old host of the event was charged under the city's noise bylaw.
Police were required to return to the scene later that evening in response to a report of people yelling and screaming in an alley. On their second visit police arrested the 24-year-old host as well as a 41-year-old man who was also found at the residence in an intoxicated state and causing a further disturbance.
A homeowner scared two potential thieves away when they were spotted attempting to break into vehicles.
Two men, aged 21 and 22 were arrested for being in possession of a controlled substance (marijuana) for the purpose of trafficking after police seized 280 grams of cannabis valued at $9,000. The two were also charged with other drug related offences in addition to the trafficking charge. The matter remains under investigation and further charges are pending.
On that same Aug. 10 evening, police charged two other males, both aged 22, for possession of less than 30 grams of marijuana.
A third incident involving cannabis, that same night, did not result in charges, but cannabis paraphernalia was seized from four young adults.
A 40-year-old man who was spotted stumbling in and out of traffic in the central part of the city on the night of Aug. 10, was lodged in cells for his own protection after being charged with being intoxicated in public.
On Aug. 11, EPS members were called to a local residence where a window had been broken after a flower pot had been hurled at the house.
EPS members also attended to a local lounge after receiving a call regarding a minor attempting to use false identification to obtain alcohol. The false ID was retained by the business even though the subject left the area. Police are now using the surveillance video to assist them with their investigation.
On the night of Aug. 12, EPS members received a RID call from a local lounge regarding a driver who had driven away after striking the mirror on one vehicle with the vehicle he was driving. The impaired driver was located and charged with driving while over .08.
Another driver was also charged with .08, and this was an easy one for police since the vehicle approached the police cruiser on the wrong side of the street as he was travelling toward them.
EPS members also looked into a complaint of uttering threats after a suspect was stopped by a local citizen for driving a dirt bike on a walking path on the south side of the city.
The situation escalated between the suspect and citizen but the two were separated and went different directions but there was a second encounter later on, and that incident also got out-of-hand, so both parties were spoken to by police who explained to them how the situation could be dealt with, and no further policing action was required.
