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.

Big Damage in West End Break-In

There was more than $28,000 in damage to two west-end businesses sometime overnight on Wednesday. Someone or someones tried broke into a maintenance room of a plaza at Silvercreek Parkway North near Willow Road, and then they smashed a hole through a cinder block wall to gain access into one of the businesses.

After that five new holes were smashed in the other wall to get access to another business, but all they did was cause more damage. Instead, $8,000 worth of product was stolen. The incident remains under investigation, so anyone with information is asked to call Constable Chris Cheung at 519-824-1212, ext. 7435, or email him at ccheung [at] guelphpolice.ca.

Man Lost Nearly $100,000 in Another Crypto Scam

A Guelph man came to police on Wednesday to explain how he was contacted on an online forum where he posted with a request for assistance about learning how to invest in cryptocurrency. This was at the end of September, and by October he had transferred approximately $50,000 USD. The man was told his crypto profits were now worth $210,000 USD, and when he sought to withdraw the funds, he was asked to pay a tax on the profit and transferred another $21,000 USD.

When the man was asked to send another transfer of $21,000 to cover insurance, he became suspicious and went to the police, who are reminding everyone that cryptocurrency transactions are not reversible and very difficult to trace, so do your research before transferring funds.

Three More Impaired Driving Arrests Christmas Weekend

Christmas kept the police busy with impaired drivers. On Christmas Eve at 10 pm, a woman sideswiped a parked car on Cork Street, she had a strong odour of alcoholic beverage on her breath and showed other signs of impairment when police stopped her. A 23-year-old Guelph woman was charged with impaired driving.

Twenty-four hours later, police were told about a woman driving impaired in the area of Kortright Road West and Rickson Avenue. When police caught up with her in a driveway, they reported that she was “jittery, had jerky body movements and her speech was slurred.” It turned out that she was impaired by drugs and she was arrested with impaired operation and failing to comply with a release order. The 29-year-old Guelph woman was also bound by a court-ordered 10 pm curfew.

Also on Christmas night, a man was spotted passed out behind the wheel of his car at the intersection of Woolwich Street and Norfolk Street, and that man apparently woke up and then started driving northbound on Woolwich. Police caught up with the 31-year-old Acton man at a residence in the area, he was acting erratically and sweating profusely, and when police arrested him on the suspicion that he was drug impaired he began screaming and swearing at the police. The man was charged with impaired operation, driving without a licence, causing a disturbance and breach of probation.

Assault

Two 15-year-old Guelph men were arrested and charged with assault, and a 17-year-old Guelph man was arrested and charged with assault and mischief under $5,000 in connection to an assault at a restaurant in the south end earlier this month.

A 24-year-old Guelph man was charged with assault after a road rage incident on December 17. Police were called to a plaza at Speedvale and Stevenson, where one driver was followed by another who was angry about the first man’s driving. The second driver then dumped water on the car and struck the first man in the face. He was tracked to his workplace and later arrested since he was wearing a shirt with the company logo.

Traffic

A 33-year-old St Catharines woman and a 26-year-old Guelph man were both charged with possessing stolen property over $5,000 after police identified the licence plate of a stolen car at a north end hotel.

A 24-year-old Paris woman was charged with obstruct police, failing to remain at a collision and novice driver having alcohol in her system. On Monday evening, police were called to a collision at the intersection of Wellington Street West and Gordon Street where they found an unoccupied vehicle with heavy damage. A witness said that the female driver simply walked away after the collision, but police caught up with her when she went to the hospital with neck pain.

Theft/Break-Ins

A 35-year-old Kitchener man was charged with theft under $5,000, possessing stolen property and trespass by night after some porch piracy was reported in the area of Victoria Road North and Eastview Road.

A 33-year-old Guelph man is charged with robbery and mischief. Last Friday at 11 pm, two men were involved in an altercation where a large rock was thrown through the rear window of a man’s car, and the suspect demanded the man give up his cellphone before riding away on a bike. Police picked up the suspect after a brief foot chase, recovering the stolen phone and two knives.

Some sports equipment was stolen during a break and enter last weekend at a warehouse complex in the area of Crimea Street and Edinburgh Road North, including a quantity of baseball bats, umpire equipment and two gas generators. Police are looking for a suspect captured on video surveillance at around 4:50 am on Monday described as a white male wearing a camouflage “Fox Racing” brand hoodie, brown gloves, a black face mask and a black baseball cap with a gold logo. If you have any information, call Constable Carson Skipper at 519-824-1212, ext. 7283, or email him at cskipper [at] guelphpolice.ca.

A number of tool were stolen from a trailer at a commercial property on Waterloo Avenue near Wellington Street West. Anyone with information is asked to call Constable Jennifer Probst at 519-824-1212, ext. 7296, email her at jprobst [at] guelphpolice.ca.

A downtown apartment was broken into sometime during the holiday break, video game systems and accessories, a tablet and jewellery including the tenant’s grandmother’s wedding ring on a gold chain were among the stolen items. If you have any information, call Constable Matt Simpson at 519-824-1212, ext. 7318, or email him at msimpson [at] guelphpolice.ca.

More than $600 in dental care products were stolen from a Stone Road West business. Two suspects entered the store at approximately 4:20 pm on Monday and stole $665 worth of electric toothbrushes and teeth whitening strips. The suspects are described as a male and female in their 30s with brown skin. The man had dark hair which was short on the sides and was wearing a navy winter jacket, jeans and glasses, ad the woman had dark hair and was wearing all black clothing. If you have any information, call Constable Cecilia Hudecki at 519-824-1212, ext. 7215, or email her at chudecki [at] guelphpolice.ca.

About $2,000 in frozen food was stolen from a restaurant in the area of Elmira Road North and Woodlawn Road West late Wednesday. Video surveillance identified a suspect described as a white male, 5’10” tall with an average build and wearing a black jacket with a white logo on the chest, grey hoodie, dark jeans and black running shoes with white soles. If you have any information call Constable Brandon Lohwinow at 519-824-1212, ext. 7204, email him at blohwinow [at] guelphpolice.ca.

Other Notes

A 39-year-old Guelph man was charged with uttering threats, breach of probation and failing to comply with a release order after he showed up at a business on Woolwich Street near Marilyn Drive and threatened to kill an employee despite the fact that a condition of his bail was not to attend the business.

A 46-year-old Oshawa woman got picked up for missing her court date in Guelph last month by another police service.

A 26-year-old Guelph man was further charged with failing to appear in court as well as the outstanding impaired driving charges after he didn’t show up in court to answer for an impaired driving charge from June 2019.

Total calls for service last week: 1,190

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.