On Grey Cup Sunday "our cells were filled with Rider pride," said Const. Barry Schulte of the Estevan Police Service (EPS) who issued a media release following celebrations that marked the victory of the Saskatchewan Roughriders over the Hamilton Tiger Cats.
The celebrations resulted in a couple of not-so-friendly lounge rivalries that ended as quickly as they began and, in fact, the combatants at one lounge had left the establishment before police got there.
Another local lounge, however, reported two unruly patrons who were refusing to leave after being asked to do so. Even when police arrived, the two refused to leave, so they were arrested and lodged in cells until sober.
The next call focused on a complaint of a man in a short-sleeved shirt curled up on a deck cuddling a shovel at a residence on the southwest side of the city. The homeowner had awakened the man and advised him that he had called a taxi for him, but the man simply got up and left the area. Fortunately, police located the subject and arrested him for being intoxicated in public and placed him in cells until he regained sobriety.
The next call came from a local hotel where it was reported that a person was passed out on a couch in the lobby. When police managed to finally wake him up, he remained only semi-coherent and had no recollection of where he was, so police arrested him for being intoxicated in public and invited him to join the other happy celebrants in the cells.
In another Sunday night incident, police were called to the south side of the city in response to a domestic abuse complaint involving a man who was threatening his common-law partner. He had apparently pushed her in front of their child and when police arrived, they noted the front window of the home had been broken. A man exited the home from the front door and headed across the lawn to the back alley where he was caught and arrested for being intoxicated and lodged in cells. The partner did not wish to move forward with charges, but did not want him to return to the home until he had regained sobriety.
Earlier in the week, events unrelated to Grey Cup celebrations resulted in a 44-year old man being arrested as a result of a domestic disturbance and for breaching conditions of his recognizance, while a 39-year-old man was arrested after police caught him walking erratically and unsafely in the central part of the city.
A 29-year-old man was arrested for attempting to enter a home that wasn't his and for being intoxicated in public while another man, a 43-year-old, was arrested for impaired driving and driving while his blood-alcohol content was over .08 per cent.
Police also arrested a 23-year-old man after he kicked a door at a residence in the central part of the city. The occupants of the home removed the man from the premises and he was then transported to cells by police following his arrest.
Police had also arrested and charged a 22-year-old man for impaired driving and refusing to take a breathalyzer test earlier in the week, and they charged a 27-year-old man for assaulting two people along with a charge of mischief after he smashed a vehicle windshield.
Police also noted they ticketed several vehicles for illegally parking in handicapped zones around the city between Nov. 15 and 17.
Careless drivers also caused a couple of minor accidents in the city during the past week. No injuries were reported, but one driver was charged with impaired driving and another was charged for failing to yield to an approaching vehicle while making a left hand turn.
Police also noted they had to issue warnings to some local snowmobile operators who were caught driving their vehicles on the west side of the city in contravention of the local bylaw that restricts their use within the city.
On Nov. 22, Estevan Police Service members were called to a restaurant in the central part of the city to check into a person who was acting in a suspicious manner. The 27-year-old man was spoken to by police and then transported to St. Joseph's Hospital for further assessment. While at the hospital, police continued a background check on the man that led to his arrest since he was wanted by police following a pursuit that had taken place in North Battleford the day before. He was held in custody pending his court appearance date where he faced several charges.
On Nov. 23, EPS members were called to the north central area of the city in response to a report of an infant walking on the street without proper clothing. Police arrived at the scene and took custody of the three-year-old and then went searching for his parent or parents, who they found by knocking on several doors in the neighbourhood. Apparently the youngster had walked out of the residence on his own with the parent being unaware of his absence. The child was returned to the custody of the parent but an investigation was launched into the incident.
Another infant, a five-year-old girl, was also taken into police custody after she was found wandering around a shopping complex on the city's east side on Nov. 24. Again, police managed to locate her residence and learned that the youngster had wandered off without her mother's knowledge. This matter also remains under investigation.
On Nov. 24, EPS members received a report of a break, enter and theft incident in the central part of the city. They said damage was inflicted to the interior of the home and a flat-screen television was missing.
On Nov. 24, a young female was arrested for shoplifting at a cosmetics counter at a local retail outlet. She was taken into custody and charged with the theft of goods valued at less than $5,000.
A call regarding a vehicle on its side in a ditch in the city prompted a police search, which led to one man having his licence suspended for 24 hours.
A man who had reportedly punched several people in a local lounge on Nov. 24 was sought out by police and arrested for being intoxicated in public and for causing a disturbance. The incidents remain under investigation.
A young girl who was reported missing after departing a school bus that had taken her from Bienfait to an Estevan school on Nov. 22, was found later with a group of friends in Estevan. No further policing action was required.
Police were also called to a residence on the northeast side of the city where a shirtless man was yelling at a house, thinking that another man that he had argued with earlier, was inside. The matter was handled by police and the shirtless one moved on.
The next call for EPS members on Nov. 25 was from the south side of the city to a lounge parking lot where a woman said there were three unknown people sitting in her parked vehicle. When police attended the scene they questioned the two men and a woman who were occupying the vehicle. One of the men was arrested for being intoxicated in public and the other was arrested for being in possession of a controlled substance while the female was removed from the vehicle and sent on her way.
