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.

Deputy Chief Usitalo Passed Away

Guelph Police announced on Tuesday that former Deputy Chief George Usitalo had passed away last weekend at the age of 83. Before becoming a policeman in 1964, Usitalo played hockey, including two seasons in the OHA’s Guelph Biltimore’s, named for the Royal City’s famous hat company. Usitalo retired from hockey after two seasons with the IHL Chatham Maroons, and returned to Guelph where he played for a different team, the Guelph Police Service. He retired 32 years later having made it all the way to the position of Deputy Chief. Usitalo is survived by Elsie, his wife of 60 years, as well as four children, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Double Theft at South End Building

A building in the area of Gordon Street and Gosling Gardens was broken into twice in one week. It’s unknown if the two incidents are related.

Early on Friday morning, two men kicked in a door to access the building, which is currently under construction, and ending up stealing eight spools of copper wire, as well as several extension cords and wood 2x4s from the parking garage area. They left the scene in a blue Ford F-150 pickup that had the licence plates mounted backwards. Anyoen with information is asked to call Constable Paul Hinchliffe at 519-824-1212, ext. 7408, or email him at phinchliffe [at] guelphpolice.ca.

In the second incident Tuesday, there were also two suspects who are described as a female wearing a black jacket with an orange logo, a black and orange face mask and a white hood and a male wearing a beige North Face jacket over a black sweater, black gloves and a black face mask. They both carried hockey bags and entered the building through the underground parking garage. They stole $2,500 in tools, plus eight spools of copper wire. If you have any information call Constable Denver Staines at 519-824-1212, ext. 7166, or email him at dstaines [at] guelphpolice.ca.

Assault

A 52-year-old Guelph man was charged with aggravated assault, assault with a weapon, possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose and three counts of failing to appear in court after police were called to a Stone Road West address on Monday night. A man sustained a significant injury to his arm after several people known to each other were involved in a physical altercation.

Police are looking for three men that entered a bank in the south end with a firearm at around 4:50 pm on Wednesday. They didn’t get anything, but the police are looking for them. If you have any information, call Detective Constable Syed Ali of the General Investigations Unit at 519-824-1212 ext. 7145 or send an email to sali [at] guelphpolice.ca.

A 20-year-old Guelph man was charged with mischief, breaching probation and two counts of breaching a conditional sentence order after police were called to the scene of a disturbance in a parking lot at Gordon and Waterloo. They found a woman in her car with a broken window, and it was broken by her son when they got into an argument. The time was 10 pm, and the son was supposed to remain at home between 6 pm and 6 am except for emergencies. Police picked hum up a short distance away.

Break-Ins

A 43-year-old Guelph man was charged with possessing stolen property, three counts of possessing a credit card, two counts of possessing controlled substances and breach of probation after a Louisa Drive resident reported that someone had entered their vehicle at 4 am on Monday. The suspect was also found to be in possession of small amounts of suspected fentanyl and Oxycodone.

Theft

A camper trailer valued at more than $30,000 was stolen from a Malcolm Road business sometime this week. The trailer is described as a white and blue Kodiak 17-foot single-axle camper trailer with a white cover with blue stripes. If you have any information, call Constable Margaret Pickard at 519-824-1212, ext. 7440, or email her at mpickard [at] guelphpolice.ca.

A 67-year-old Guelph man was charged with impaired operation, and his driver’s licence was immediately suspended for 90 days after he was seen getting into his car after drinking at a licensed establishment in the area of Victoria and York.

Two ATVs were stolen from an address on Edinburgh Road North near Speedvale Avenue West. A grey four-door Chevrolet or GMC pickup was caught on video surveillance at 5 am on Tuesday morning, and it took off with two black trailers with “Seadoo” written on the side with each containing a Arctic Cat ATVs valued at $30,000. If you have any information, call Constable Chris Cheung at 519-824-1212, ext. 7435, email him at ccheung [at] guelphpolice.ca.

Two trailers that were stolen from a yard in Guelph’s south end at the end of January, one was found in York Region a couple of days after the theft, and the other was found on Southgate Drive earlier this week, but both trailers were found without the $40,000 worth of liquor inside. Police are still looking for more info about the theft, and if you have any call Detective Constable Josh van Breda of the BEAT Unit at 519-824-1212, ext. 7417, or email jvanbreda [at] guelphpolice.ca.

It what’s more of an attempted robbery, police are looking for two suspects who tried to steal spools of wire from a business on Southgate Drive last Friday evening. The suspects were described as brown-skinned males in their 20s wearing blue winter jackets. They left in a grey BMW possibly driven by a white male with a shaved head. If you have any information, call Constable Greg Mitchell at 519-824-1212, ext. 7170, email him at gmitchell [at] guelphpolice.ca.

Traffic

A 19-year-old Burlington man was charged with stunt driving and speeding after his Mercedes was clocked doing 104 kilometres per hour in a 50 zone in the area of Stone Road and South Ring Road.

A 29-year-old Guelph man was charged with impaired driving and driving while suspended after he failed a roadside sobriety test when police were called to the scene of a two-vehicle collision around noon on Tuesday.

A red pickup truck that was reportedly stolen in Mapleton clipped a car while running a red light at Woolwich Street and Woodlawn Road East after it was observed running a red light at Woolwich and Speedvale on Monday evening. If you have any information call Sergeant Ian Smith at 519-824-1212, ext. 7125, email him at ismith [at] guelphpolice.ca.

Other Notes

A 30-year-old Guelph man is facing an additional charge of failing to attend court after missing a court date last month.

A 35-year-old Guelph woman was arrested and further charged with failing to attend court after missing her January court date to answer charges of break and enter and the possession of stolen property.

30-year-old Guelph man also joined the parade of people being charged with failing to attend court as well as failing to comply with an undertaking. He missed a court date in October for outstanding sexual assault charges, and police learned that he had also quit his job without telling police, violating his release conditions. Police were able to arrest him last Friday.

A 27-year-old Guelph woman was charged with failing to attend court and failing to comply with a release order after police spotted her downtown on Tuesday morning, and realized that she was wanted for missing a court date. A search of her person revealed three knives even though she was prohibited for possessing such weapons.

Total calls for service last week: 1,444

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.