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.

Police Internet Reporting Down Again

An early holiday disappointment for people trying to report something crime-related on the Guelph Police website: it’s not working. “The servers which support the reporting system have been disabled while a technical issue is investigated. There is no estimate of when the servers will be restored. We thank the public for its patience.” Obviously, you can still report non-emergency matters the old-fashioned way by phone at 519-824-1212.

Police Still Searching for Missing Man

Guelph Police are looking for help finding Charles Rudd, a 58-year-old man who has not been seen in over a week. Rudd was last seen at Guelph General Hospital, but two days later his landlord checked his apartment and found that Charles’ cat had not been fed, while his neighbours reported that they hadn’t seen Charles in four days. Rudd is described as a white male, 5’10”, 150 pounds with unkempt grey hair, and there are concerns for his well-being. If you have any information, call Detective Constable Scott Biser at 519-824-1212, ext. 7131, or sbiser [at] guelphpolice.ca, or you can call Detective Constable Brendan Campbell at ext. 7177 or bcampbell [at] guelphpolice.ca.

Assault

The General Investigations Unit is investigating an assault that occurred at a south end restaurant on Saturday December 11. A man was attacked at the restaurant by three other men who were yelling profanities including racial slurs during the attack. So yes, hate and/or bias has been recognized by police as a contributing factor in this assault. If you have any information about this incident, call Detective Constable Mark Medulun at 519-824-1212, ext. 7346 or email him at mmedulun [at] guelphpolice.ca.

 

Traffic

A RIDE stop on Wellington Street East near Neeve Street resulted in a 40-year-old Hamilton man being charged with possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose, possessing cannabis for the purpose of selling and driving a motor vehicle with cannabis readily available. When police stopped him they noticed a long machete-style knife next to the driver’s seat, and a search of the car found 45 grams of cannabis as well as numerous empty baggies.

Road rage at Stone Road Mall on Christmas week! A 24-year-old Arthur man was charged with dangerous driving and uttering threats after he got mad about being stuck behind a delivery truck, and then nearly ran over two pedestrians before trying to threaten and run over two mall employees that tried to talk to him about his recklessness.

A 51-year-old Guelph man was charged with impaired driving after police were notified about a possible impaired driver on Victoria Road South near Arkell Road. Officers caught up with the driver on York Road where they saw the vehicle swerving within and outside its lane while driving very slowly.

A 37-year-old Guelph man was charged with impaired driving, and his driver’s licence was immediately suspended after police were called to the intersection of Elmira Road North and Paisley Road after witnesses reported a man slumped over in a running vehicle. The man blew five-times the legal limit and was taken to the hospital as a precaution.

On Thursday, police tried to stop a stolen pick-up truck that was taken from a Cambridge residence last Sunday. Police were called by a woman who knew the stolen truck well because it belonged to her boyfriend, when police tried to box the car in, it took off over a curb and a sidewalk in order to escape. If you have any information on this matter, call Constable Christian Godin at 519-824-1212, ext. 7288, or email cgodin [at] guelphpolice.ca

Theft/Break-Ins

A black 2011 GMC Sierra was stolen from a driveway on Ontario Street near Arthur Street South early on Thursday morning. Anyone with information is asked to call Constable Stephen Gawlik at 519-824-1212, ext. 7509, email him at sgawlik [at] guelphpolice.ca.

A small amount of cash, a laptop and keys to several vehicles were stolen from a business in the area of Edinburgh Road North and Paisley Street on Monday. Two vehicles were also stolen with the suspects fleeing in one, and then coming back later to steal another. The same business was hit last week, but a suspect has already been taken into custody in that case. If you have any information on this new break-in, call Constable Chris Cheung at 519-824-1212, ext. 7435, email him at ccheung [at] guelphpolice.ca.

Speaking of that previous break-in, a 30-year-old Guelph man was charged with break and enter, possessing stolen property over $5,000, possessing stolen property under $5,000, theft and three counts of breaching probation. Police were able to pick him up off surveillance photos.

In another example of repeated break-ins, a commercial building in the area of Willow Road and Silvercreek Parkway North was broken into for the second time in two weeks last Sunday. Two businesses were entered, and the perpetrators tried to enter a third, but it is unknown if anything was stolen. If you have any information about this break-in, contact Constable Joshua van Breda at 519-824-1212, ext. 7417, or email him at jwvanbreda [at] guelphpolice.ca.

It was a couples crime last week when a man and a woman broke into an apartment building on Edinburgh Road South near Wilsonview Avenue by sneaking into the building behind a deliver person and trying to break into some ground floor rooms before trying to break into some cars in the parking garage. A 35-year-old Guelph man has been charged with break and enter and breach of probation, and a 29-year-old Guelph female was charged with break and enter.

A 58-year-old Guelph man turned himself in to police on Thursday, and was charged with fraud over $5,000, uttering a forged document and false pretences after a lengthy police investigation. The man had made more than $80,000 in fraudulent transactions including more than $42,000 in payments allegedly made to vendors, which were actually deposited into a private bank account while the suspect was president of a local condominium board.

Other Notes

A 28-year-old Perth County man turned himself in to police and has been charged with criminal harassment and uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm in relation to a video posted on social media where the man is heard making racist comments and uttering threats.

An arrest has been made in relation to a separate hate-filled social media post. A 28-year-old Guelph man was charged last Friday with uttering a threat to cause death for a video that depicted a man threatening an individual and “further conveying racist ideology.”

A 37-year-old Guelph woman was charged with failing to appear in court after she didn’t show up to answer for charges including assault and choking.

A 26-year-old Guelph man was charged with theft and failing to attend court on drug and weapons charges after staff at a Stone Road business witnessed the man shoplifting.

A 33-year-old Guelph man turned himself into police on Wednesday and was charged with failing to comply with a probation order after a woman called police when the man banged on her door for 10 minutes despite the fact that that he was prohibited from the address.

Total calls for service last week: 1,307

If you have any information about the crimes or incidents mentioned above, you can also call Guelph Wellington Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS) or post online at csgw.tips.