Estevan Police Service (EPS) members went to the movies on Jan. 10.
What they saw was not a thriller or a Spielberg science fiction masterpiece, but rather a scene from one of this city's latest little independent films on social experiments in thievery.
When police attended to a local liquor outlet to view a video surveillance replay, they saw two men come into the store and then saw one of them take a bottle of alcohol and place it in his pants. He then took another bottle and took it to the cashier's counter and proclaim that he had forgotten his debit card. He left the store and then came back in with his partner, who, in the meantime, had evidently departed.
The second time around, both men took a bottle which they hid in their clothing and then the man who had declared he had forgotten his debit card returned to the cashier to pay for the one bottle he had left behind. The card was declined so he left the bottle with the cashier and walked out.
The man was picked up and arrested on the street a short time later and charged with theft as well as for being intoxicated in public. His alleged accomplice is still under investigation with possible theft charges pending.
In another caper that same day, another man entered a local retail clothing store and removed a price tag from some work clothes and then left the store.
A short time later, a woman entered the store saying she wanted to return some work clothes since she needed the money to get to Regina to assist a family member who had been injured.
She apparently was attempting to receive cash for clothing that had not left the store. The return was not authorized since no receipt could be produced and the episode is now under investigation by EPS.
In other Jan. 10 activity, EPS members attended to a business in the north central area of the city to tend to a customer who was causing a disturbance. The matter was resolved without incident as was an unrelated domestic dispute matter involving a 15-year-old boy and his mother.
Police next attended to a vehicle that was spotted in a parking lot at a northeast Estevan establishment with a door opened. Investigation revealed that the vehicle had been struck by another which had caused the door to open. This incident remains under investigation.
Police were called out to the east central area of the city on Jan. 10 in response to a report of a man walking on the train track trestle. When police arrived, they learned that the man was doing repairs on the trestle crossing.
On the night of Jan. 12, a 30-year-old man was arrested and charged with breaching the conditions of his undertaking and for being intoxicated in public after he was found in a north central lounge. He was lodged in cells until sober and given a Jan. 21 court date.
EPS members next attended to an east central establishment where an 18-year-old man was arrested for carrying a weapon dangerous to the public. The man had been carrying a .177 calibre air pistol. He was also charged with being in a licensed premise as a minor under the Alcohol and Gaming Regulations Act. He was taken into custody and held in cells until sober and now has a Feb. 4 court date.
On that same evening, police arrested a 32-year-old man and served him with a 24-hour driving suspension after they found him in the driver's seat of an idling vehicle near a north central business. He was lodged in cells until sober.
