There are 137,000 stories in the Royal City, and this is some of them. Looking at a week’s worth of media releases from the Guelph Police Service, there’s a lot gong on in our little city crime-wise speaking, so let’s run down some of the charges, issues, and requests for information from the Guelph Police Service over the last seven days.

***Please note that not all offenses and police calls are reported in the daily Guelph Police media release.

Traffic Stop Leads to Weapons Bust with 11 Loaded Guns

A standard-type traffic stop on Friday morning lead to one of those busts that make people talk. An officer tried to stop a car with a noisy muffler in the area of Gordon Street and Harvard Road, but the car sped away in a hurry and the police did not pursue out of safety. The police later caught up with the vehicle further south on Gordon at Arkell Road, and after a struggle they took the driver into custody.

When police got into the car itself they found a sawed-off shutgun next to the driver’s seat, it was even loaded and there was a shell in the chamber. There were three more loaded firearms found in the passenger area, plus five more in the trunk. Along with the gun, there were a variety of knives, axes, swords, and “a quantity of illicit substances.” All of this is pictured above.

A 30-year-old Grey County man was charged with dangerous driving, flight from police, assault police, possessing a controlled substance and more than 60 firearms and prohibited weapons charges; and a 32-year-old Grey County woman was charged with 23 firearms and prohibited weapons charges.

West End Businesses Lose Thousands in One Break-In

Sometime overnight on Wednesday, someone or someones broke into a commercial building on Willow Road near Silvercreek and stole thousands of dollars in equipment from two businesses. More than $2,500 worth of computers and other equipment was stolen from one, and over $10,000 worth of specialized equipment was stolen from the second. The perpetrators tried to break into a third business, but all they did was damage the door frame and the lock. If you have any information about this break-in call Constable Abdullah Eidokheil at 519-824-1212, ext. 7415, or email him at aeidokheil [at] guelphpolice.ca.

Beware of GPS Trackers, Crooks Follow You Home

A grey 2018 Ford F-150 pick-up truck was stolen from a resident’s driveway in the area of Gordon Street and Edinburgh Road South early Friday morning, and it look like the crooks tracked the truck to the resident’s home in the first place. The car owner had found a GPS tracker on his truck just hours before it was a stolen, an Apple AirTag GPS device, which has become a new way for car thieves across Ontario to track cars they’d like to steal by following them home where they’re more easy to grab in the dead of night.

Police are reminding everyone to beware of AirTag devices because you will be alerted on your phone if it detects an unknown AirTag nearby. They also recommend keeping your car locked in a garage whenever possible, or to use another vehicle to block in your car if it’s a higher end model. If you have any information about the specific car theft mentioned above, get in touch with Special Constable Allie Johnston at 519-824-1212, ext. 7457, or email her at ajohnston [at] guelphpolice.ca.

Assault

Nothing to report here this week.

Traffic

Last weekend during the RIDE check, officers stopped 750 vehicles at two locations, and out of the 50 drivers who were asked to provide breath samples, three of them were taken off the road having registered between 50 and 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood. In terms of charges, one driver was charged under the Cannabis Control Act, and another was charged under the Highway Traffic Act for failing to surrender a driver’s licence.

A 43-year-old Guelph man was charged with impaired driving, and his driver’s licence was immediately suspended for 90 day after he was spotted driving erratically in the area of Silvercreek Parkway North and Greengate Road. When police stopped the vehicle in a plaza parking lot, and asked the driver for proof of ownership, he gave the police the owner’s manual.

Police are looking for a grey Mercedes SUV that collided with another vehicle while exiting a plaza on Speedvale Road West near Woolwich. The driver of the car is described as a white female in her 40s with blonde hair. If you have any information, call Constable Scott Riche of the Traffic Unit at 519-824-1212, ext. 7478, or email him at sriche [at] guelphpolice.ca.

Snowy weather on Monday evening resulted in a couple of collisions. The first at 8 pm was a two-vehicle collision at Woodlawn and Silvercreek, two women went to the hospital for head and neck injuries and one driver was charged with careless driving. Later, at around 10:35 pm, a vehicle struck a pole in the area of Ironwood Road and Walman Drive causing a power outage. Police remind everyone to be careful with winter driving conditions.

Early last Saturday morning, police on patrol spotted several people getting into the rear hatch of a vehicle, and they stopped it knowing that those people were not buckled up in seatbelts. When the police stopped the car, the driver, a 20-year-old Guelph man, failed a sobriety test and he was charged with impaired operation. His driver’s licence was also immediately suspended for 90 days and his vehicle was impounded.

Before midnight last Saturday, a 44-year-old Fergus man was charged with impaired operation and his driver’s licence was suspended after police responded to a report of a man passed out in a running vehicle.

Theft/Break-Ins

A 21-year-old Guelph man was charged with theft under $5,000 after he was caught eating the product sold in a west end store. The employee was caught on camera repeatedly for two weeks helping himself.

Approximately $5,000 were stolen from a trailer at a Dawson Road business on Monday morning, including a Dewalt hammer drill, a Stihl cement saw and underground locating equipment. If you have any information, call Constable Jagdeep Atwal at 519-824-1212, ext. 7436, or email him at jatwal [at] guelphpolice.ca.

Stolen tools and a blue bin used to carry them away from a garage in the area of College Avenue West and Dovercliffe Road were found in front of another neighbourhood home on Wednesday morning. Only some of the tool were recovered though so if you have any information about stolen tools call Constable Robert Panek at 519-824-1212, ext. 7286, or email him at rpanek [at] guelphpolice.ca.

Other Notes

A 29-year-old Guelph man was charged with three counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking. The man was found in distress in the bathroom of a business at Woodlawn and Woolwich Street jut after 11 pm Monday, and when paramedics and police responded, a search of the man’s belongings revealed five large baggies of suspected fentanyl as well as two other baggies of pills believed to be Dilaudid and Clonazepam. All told, the drugs were worth around $20,000.

A 35-year-old Guelph man was arrested on an outstanding warrant and further charged with failing to appear in court. On Thursday, police spotted him while on patrol in the area of Dawson and Willow, and he spent the night in jail a to make sure that he didn’t miss court this time.

A 34-year-old Guelph man was charged with two counts each of failing to appear and breaching an undertaking after police spoke to him on an unrelated matter in the area of London Road West and North Street on Wednesday. Upon further inquiry, the officer found out that the man they were talking to was under two release orders to not be at that address, and that he had failed to appear in court twice.

Another Guelph man who didn’t show up for his court date last month was picked up by police on Tuesday afternoon while they were investigating an unrelated matter on Waterloo Avenue.

A 28-year-old Guelph man was charged with three counts of carrying a concealed weapon, four counts of breaching probation and several provincial offences related to smoking and consuming alcohol while prohibited. Police were called to a downtown business Tuesday afternoon where the man, who had been banned from that business, was drinking and smoking, and when the police caught up with him a few hours later, he was found with two folding knives and a hammer hidden inside his pants.

Total calls for service last week: 1,446