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 Trafficking Bust for BEAT

A 38-year-old Guelph man was arrested and charged with possessing a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking, possession of property obtained by crime, unauthorized possession of a weapon, carrying a concealed weapon as well as breaching several court orders and conditions. The Guelph Police Break Enter Auto Theft (BEAT) unit, plus the Tactics and Rescue units, executed a search warrant on a Carden Street residence, and along with the arrest, they recovered a a quantity of crack cocaine, cash, weapons, and property that had been stolen from various break and enters around downtown.

Guelph Woman Defrauded of Over $5,000 in Online Scam

A Guelph woman was defrauded of more than $5,000 through a social media scam after the suspect asked her to help him move to Canada, and directed her to withdraw money from her bank account, buy Steam and iTunes gift cards, and then send him the numbers. Adding insult to injury, the victim is described as developmentally delayed. If you have any information about this case, call Constable Erik Ugarte-Bravo at 519-824-1212, ext. 7365, email him at eugarte-bravo [at] guelphpolice.ca.

Buyers and Sellers Should Be Aware

Guelph Police are giving advanced notice to anyone thinking about buying or selling stuff online: Protect yourself. This week, the police are offering the following advice for doing business through internet buy and sell sites…

• Does the person want to pick up the item or do they want it shipped? If shipped are they asking for a certain company to pickup the item for shipment? This can be a red flag as the company may be an illegitimate one.
• Does the deal seem too good to be true? Do they want to send you more than your asking price?
• Do they state they want the item shipped as they will soon be moving to the area, but request you pay the shipper for them with excess funds they have sent? This is a common scam where you will receive a cheque or a photo of one for mobile deposit, for the product with excess funds, then be requested to e-transfer the “shipping company”. The victim will e-transfer prior to the cheque clearing, then find the cheque bounces.
• Are they paying by e-transfer or cheque? Always wait for a cheque to fully clear (5-7 business days) prior to releasing the item.

Teen Learns Hard Way: Mom Knows Best

On Thursday morning, a Guelph mom called the police to tall them that her 15-year-old son had left home the day before and never came home, which violated his release condition and a 10 pm curfew. Mom tried to convince him to come come, but he turned off his phone and ignored her, but he couldn’t ignore police when they picked him up, arrested him for failing to comply with an undertaking, and was driven home. He’ll appear in court next month.

Assault

A 26-year-old Guelph woman was charged with failing to comply with a release order, possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose and unauthorized possession of a weapon. Guelph Police spotted a women they knew to be wanted for failing to attend a court date last Saturday night. When they searched her, they found a can of bear spray in her pocket.

A 35-year-old Guelph man was further charged with possessing a weapon contrary to an order, unauthorized possession of a weapon, possessing a controlled substance and two counts of failing to comply with court orders. He was arrested on an outstanding warrant last Saturday afternoon, and officers discovered on him a spring-loaded knife, pepper spray and a baggie containing approximately $1,000 worth of suspected crystal meth.

Break-Ins

A 37-year-old Guelph man was charged with break and enter, possessing stolen property, possessing identity documents and two counts of failing to comply with an undertaking. On Sunday night, two men broke into Old Quebec Street and tried to enter individual businesses there. The arrest was made the next day when the suspect returned wearing the same clothes, but the second suspect is still being sought. If you have any information call Constable Ryan Lue at 519-824-1212, ext. 7395, or email him at rlue [at] guelphpolice.ca.

Police are looking for a man described as wearing all dark clothing, a hooded sweatshirt with the hood up, a baseball cap with flat brim, black and white shoes and a blue backpack who broke into a storage room in a Bagot Street apartment building sometime in the evening of January 31. If you have any information, call Constable Graeme Adams at 519-824-1212, ext. 7419, email him at gadams [at] guelphpolice.ca.

Police are looking for a couple of people that tried to break into a downtown apartment building at Wellington and Neeve last Saturday at 1 am. The first suspect is described as female wearing a black coat with the hood up, blue jeans, brown boots with fur trim and a red bag with white markings. The second suspect, who acted as a lookout, is described as a white male wearing a dark jacket with the hood up, light blue jeans, black boots and a black backpack with a white stripe. If you have any information call Constable Dan Urbshas at 519-824-1212, ext. 7240, or email him at durbshas [at] guelphpolice.ca.

Theft

A 33-year-old Guelph woman was charged with possessing stolen property, possessing a controlled substance, possessing a weapon, possessing identity documents and two counts of breaching probation. While inside a store on Silvercreek Parkway, staff noticed that she was wearing a pair of boots that she had stolen from that same store a week earlier. While the police arrested the woman, her male associate escaped. He’s described as a black male who was wearing a black coat and tan Timberland boots and carrying a red backpack.

A business in the area of Dawson Road and Willow Road lost over $5,000 in an unusual theft. Early on Thursday morning, staff reported that at least two men stole numerous propane and oxygen tanks from behind the store, but they weren’t able to put an exact price point on the loss. If you have any information call call Constable Margaret Pickard at 519-824-1212, ext. 7440, or email her at mpickard [at] guelphpolice.ca.

A 35-year-old Toronto man is facing several charges including identity theft, personation, fraud over $5,000, laundering proceeds of crime and two counts of failing to comply with a judicial order. Back in August 2020, he impersonated a client of a south end bank with a fake driver’s license and was able to send a wire transfer worth nearly $94,000. More that three-quarters of the money was later recovered.

Traffic

Guelph Police reported that there were 10 different collisions around town on Wednesday alone, including a traffic accident involving a dump truck. No injuries were reported.

A 59-year-old Guelph man was charged with impaired operation and failing to stop at a collision and his driver’s licence was suspended for 90 days after a pedestrian was clipped by a passing car on Baker Street on Sunday night.

A 33-year-old Kitchener man was charged with impaired driving, and his driver’s licence was suspended for 90 days after police were called about a vehicle swerving, hitting the curb and making wide turns in the area of Speedvale and Lewis Road last Friday afternoon. The driver had four times the legal amount of alcohol in his system.

A 36-year-old Guelph man was charged with impaired operation, dangerous operation, flight from police, stunt driving and possessing a controlled substance after an incident on Monday morning. A pickup was reportedly driving erratically on Victoria Road and it ran a red light at Eastview Road, but when an officer tried tried to pull him over, the truck accelerated to 100 kilometres per hour in a 50 zone. When the pickup was finally stopped, a search yielded a number of Oxycodone and Xanax tablets.

Other Notes

A 37-year-old Guelph man was picked up by Guelph Police for failing to appear in court after they caught up with him riding shotgun in a stolen car.

A 26-year-old Guelph man was arrested again for failing to appear in court a third time after being first arrested for pulling a knife during an argument with a neighbour last April.

A 33-year-old Guelph man was charged with committing an indecent act on Monday afternoon when he walked into traffic and exposed himself to oncoming traffic on Woodlawn Road near Nicklin during the afternoon rush hour.

Was your Samsung tablet recently stolen? Email Constable Ryan Lue at rlue [at] guelphpolice.ca because he might have recovered in the course of a break and enter investigation.

Police were called to an address on Waterloo Avenue near Silvercreek to respond to the report of a disturbance. A 41-year-old man who was bound by a release condition to not go to that address, or have any contact with the woman that lives there, was arrested for two counts of breaching a release order.

Total calls for service last week: 1,452

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.