There are 145,000 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 going 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 Remind You That School’s Back on Tuesday!

Schools are back in session around Guelph on Tuesday, and the Guelph Police Service are reminding everyone that there will be lots of kids out and about walking, biking, and riding the school bus, and they’re all heading to the same place. So starting the day after Labour Day, the police are asking that you observe the following:

• Remember to not pass a school bus when the lights are flashing and the stop arm is deployed
• Obey the directions of Adult School Crossing Guards, whose job is to get children to and from school safely
• Realize there will be increased traffic on the road and adjust departure times accordingly to accommodate it
• If possible, plan an alternate route that does not include a school zone

Don’t Play With Toy Guns

Guelph Police were called to a group home on Thursday after a staff member reported that a resident had posted pictures of himself with a real-looking handgun. After a search, police found a very real-looking black Baby Desert Eagle .177-calibre BB gun, which police seized and later destroyed. Residents were warned about the seriousness of possessing or brandishing such weapons, which can be easily mistaken for real firearms, and now so are you. This is what the fake gun in question looked like.

Assault

A 25-year-old Guelph man was charged with assault and assault with a weapon after a woman waiting outside a Wyndham North business Thursday morning when she was approached by a man that she didn’t know. The suspect pushed the woman with both hands and then swung a gym bag at her, striking her in the shoulder.

A 24-year-old Guelph woman was charged with assault last Saturday morning after she approached another woman dropping off her son in front of a business on Clair Road East and spat in the victim’s face.

A 19-year-old Guelph man was charged with assault with a weapon, possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose, uttering threats and two counts of breaching a probation order after a man was stabbed in the back near the waste while walking with the suspect at around 2 am on Monday. The victim is recovering at home after being taken to a Hamilton trauma centre.

A 16-year-old Guelph man and a 14-year-old Guelph man were each charged with robbery, possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose, assault with a weapon, wearing a disguise while committing an offence and forcible confinement. Two 15-year-old women were confronted by two men who were wearing balaclavas and holding knives. One of the women had her cell phone stolen, and both women suffered minor cuts.

Break-Ins

A couple from London were arrested for a shoplifting incident last Saturday at a business on Silvercreek North, but police were able to connect them to a break-in on Stone Road the week before. In that incident approximately $4,000 worth of cellphones and laptop computers were stolen.

A 21-year-old Guelph man was charged with break and enter, possessing stolen property, carrying a concealed weapon, possessing identity documents and failing to attend court after a break-in at a commercial property downtown last Saturday morning. The suspect was searched and police found five replica firearms that had been reported stolen during a break and enter a day earlier, and also several pieces of identification not in his name.

Theft

An orange 2012 Kawasaki Z1000 was stolen from a shed at a home on Gordon near Maltby. If you have an information call Constable Frazer McCrindle at 519-824-1212, ext. 7327, or email him at fmccrindle [at] guelphpolice.ca.

The catalytic converters from two work vans were stolen, and severe damage was done to a third at a business near York and Watson sometime last weekend. If you have any information call Constable Chris Cheung at 519-824-1212, ext. 7435, or email him at ccheung [at] guelphpolice.ca.

A white 2015 Chevrolet Colorado was stolen from a driveway of a south end residence sometime after 1 am on Thursday morning.  The truck stands out because of its cracked bumper on the front passenger side, a trailer hitch and a folding black leather tonneau cover. If you have any information call Constable Jessica Belcastro at 519-824-1212, ext. 7287, or email her at jbelcastro [at] guelphpolice.ca.

A 36-year-old Guelph woman and 34-year-old Guelph man face several charges including theft under $5,000, possessing controlled substances for the purpose of trafficking, carrying a concealed weapon and breaching court orders after they were caught shoplifting at a Silvercreek North on Saturday afternoon. The pair had more than $1,200 in good in their cart when they tried to escape officers, but when they were caught, police found more stolen cloths plus several small baggies of suspected fentanyl and a spring-loaded knife.

Traffic

A Guelph woman charged with careless driving and driving on a closed highway on Tuesday morning after they drove their vehicle into a construction area near Speedvale and Imperial and essentially drowned their car. (See above.) No one was harmed in the accident.

A 27-year-old Guelph man was charged with impaired operation after a visit to a licensed establishment on Stone Road last Friday morning.

A 28-year-old man had his licence suspended for 30 days and his vehicle impounded for 14 days after police caught him doing twice the legal speed limit in the area of Niska Road and Pioneer Trail last Saturday afternoon.

Also last Saturday afternoon, a patrol on Stone Road East saw a 50-year-old Guelph woman driving 107 kilometres per hour in a 60 zone. Her licence suspended for 30 days and her vehicle impounded for 14 days.

Then, last Saturday night, a 19-year-old Kitchener man had his licence suspended for 30 days and his vehicle impounded for 14 days after police caught him driving 117 kilometres per hour in 60 zone along Woodlawn Road near Governor’s Road.

A 34-year-old Welland man was charged with speeding and stunt driving for doing nearly twice the speed limit in the area of Laird and Southgate on Monday afternoon. His delivery van was impounded for two weeks.

A 22-year-old Edmonton man was charged with impaired operation, and his driver’s licence was suspended for 90 days early last Sunday morning. The driver was showing signs of impairment and failed a roadside test after police observed the vehicle travelling at a high rate of speed near Wyndham and Macdonell.

A 33-year-old Windsor man was charged with impaired operation, failure to provide a breath sample and unnecessary noise under the Highway Traffic Act, plus his driver’s licence was suspended for 90 days. Early last Saturday morning, police spotted a man on a motorcycle loudly revving his bike, but when they talked to him, his speech was slurred and he refused several times to produce a breath sample.

Other Notes

A 40-year-old Guelph woman was charged with mischief, uttering threats and two counts of breaching probation on Tuesday afternoon after she used the intercom of Waterloo Avenue apartment building to try and get inside and then pulled the intercom from the wall and threatened to him someone with it.

A 25-year-old Guelph man was charged with two counts each of breaching probation and breaching release conditions as well as possessing a stolen credit card and possessing an identity document. This was the person charged for assaulting a stranger while she was out walking her dog earlier this summer, and the same person spotted the suspect at a downtown address he had been ordered to avoid on Wednesday.

A 38-year-old Cambridge man was charged with two counts of mischief under $5,000, two counts of failing to attend court and failing to comply with a probation order. Police didn’t describe the circumstances of the arrest, but the mischief charges come from an incident in March 2021 where two vehicles were damaged in a Silvercreek North parking lot.

Two 28-year-old Guelph men are each charged with six counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking, obstruct police and breaching court order after police conducted a traffic stop on a suspicious vehicle downtown last Saturday afternoon. Police knew that the two men in the vehicle were wanted by police, and a search of their car revealed quantities of several controlled substances including suspected crystal meth, fentanyl, crack cocaine and MDMA, as well as cash and a digital scale.

Total calls for service last week: 1,557

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.