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.

Hundreds of Thousands in Drugs and Cash Seized

A cocaine trafficking investigation started this past spring by the Guelph Police Drug Unit netted $600,000 in controlled substances and more than $120,000 in cash and high-end clothing after two search warrants were issued last week. A 28-year-old Guelph man, a 26-year-old Guelph man and a 52-year-old Guelph woman are each charged with multiple Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and Criminal Code offences.

So what all did they get? There was $362,500 worth of cocaine, $30,200 of MDMA, $5,690 of MDMA pills, $160,250 of meth, $7,985 of Percocet, $4,000 of Oxy, $11,150 of LSD, $1,500 of mushrooms, and $8,800 of cannabis. The police also seized $62,165 in Canadian currency and $60,707 in high-end clothing, jewellery and watches. See a picture of the haul above.

Guelph Man Changed for Child Pornography

A 22-year-old Guelph man was charged with possessing child pornography, distributing child pornography and accessing child pornography on Tuesday after a search warrant was executed on a south end residence. Members of the Guelph Police Service Internet Child Exploitation unit along with the Technological Crimes Unit and uniform patrol officers were all on the scene, taking the suspect into custody after the evidence was found. The accused was subsequently released with conditions and has a court date for December 30.

Fake Lawyer Scheme Didn’t Work

When police stopped a possible impaired driver just outside the city last Saturday afternoon, officers asked for a breath sample but then a second man arrived on the scene. This was the brother of the driver and he claimed to be a lawyer, so in the course of acting as his brother’s legal counsel, he advised his brother not to give a breath sample. Strangely, the “lawyer” seemed unaware that not giving a breath sample when ordered was a criminal offense.

Eventually, the driver was arrested, and taken to the police station where they got a breath sample. A 49-year-old Guelph man was charged with impaired driving and obstructing police, while his brother, a 47-year-old Guelph man was charged with obstructing police and counselling to commit an indictable offence.

Police Board Meeting this Week

The monthly Guelph Police Services Board is this Thursday, November 17, at 2:30 pm. You can see the agenda here, and then tune in to the meeting on the Guelph Police YouTube page.

Assault

Two men described as having light skin, grey hoodies and jeans, and driving a grey or blue sedan, reportedly punched another man in the face around 3 am last Saturday morning. The victim was walking home near Gordon and Heritage when the car with the two suspects pulled up alongside and started yelling at the victim. Then they got out of their car and committed the assault. If you have any information, call Constable Breanne McDonald at 519-824-1212, ext. 7428, or email her at bmcdonald [at] guelphpolice.ca.1

Two male youths were charged with assault cause bodily harm after a third male youth was found unconscious after being assaulted in the area of Eramosa and Stevenson on Wednesday afternoon. In addition to the assault charges, one youth was further charged with carrying a concealed weapon and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, and the other was additionally charged with failing to comply with an undertaking. The victim was to the hospital with injuries to his mouth, nose and head.

Break-Ins

Police are looking for two men wearing hoodies, long pants and gloves, and driving a dark-coloured Hyundai sedan who broke into neighbouring businesses at Woolwich and Woodlawn sometime early Monday morning. A cash register was stolen from one business, but they were unable to steal the register from the other. If you have any information, call Constable Cameron Keddie at 519-824-1212, ext. 7431, or email him at ckeddie [at] guelphpolice.ca.

Someone broke into a south end restaurant on Wednesday, and while several areas were ransacked, it appears that nothing was taken. If you have any information, get in touch with Cst. Keith Kolodziejczak at KKolodzejczak [at] guelphpolice.ca or call 519-824-1212 ext. 7452.

Police are looking for a suspect described as male and wearing a black jacket or hoodie with white writing on the sleeves, navy blue pants, white shoes, a baseball cap with a sticker on the brim, a black backpack with a white design on it and black gloves. Early on Sunday morning, it’s believed this suspect broke into three separate units in a plaza at Edinburgh and Crimea and making away with an iMac desktop computer and accessories, a digital camera, projector, tools and food. He was riding a motorcycle or e-bike. If you have any information, call Constable Kyle Winters at 519-824-1212, ext. 7387, email him at kwinters [at] guelphpolice.ca.

Police are looking for two suspects and vehicle they fled in after they broke into a Woodlawn Road commercial business and stole an undisclosed amount of money at around 4:20 am on Thursday morning. The first suspect is described as male, tall, thin build wearing a dark hoodie, dark pants and white shoes. The second suspect is described as male, tall, thin build, wearing a grey hoodie, dark pants and white shoes. The vehicle is described as a dark coloured older model GMC or Chevrolet pickup truck with an extended cab, having a full cap on the bed. If you have any information,email  Cst. Perdicaris at JPerdicaris [at] guelphpolice.ca or call 519-824-1212 ext. 7382.

Drugs

A 45-year-old man from East Garafraxa Township is facing several charges including three counts of possessing controlled substances for the purpose of trafficking, four counts of possessing stolen property, possessing a prohibited weapon, obstructing police after police conducted a traffic stop on Speedvale East on Tuesday afternoon. While searching the truck, which had been reported stolen, police found quantities of suspected fentanyl, crystal methamphetamine and cocaine with an estimated value of more than $28,000 as well as a digital scale, a spring-loaded knife and suspected stolen property including laptop computers, licence plates and identification. See below.

Fraud

Guelph Police sent a reminder to the community about another scam, and not to follow links contained in text messages related to receiving a GST/HST payment, or for parcel deliveries. If you’re waiting for a GST/HST payment, go to the CRA site, and if you’re waiting for a package, look for the email confirmation sent from the company. They also remind you that the Government of Canada will never contact you to offer you funds via text message, email, or e-transfer.

Theft

A 31-year-old Guelph man was charged with possessing stolen property over $5,000, possessing stolen property under $5,000, failing to comply with bail and two counts of breaching probation after he was seen getting into a stolen car. The car, a black Mazda, matched a description of a car stolen downtown earlier that day. A search of the man produced a cheque in someone else’s name.

On Tuesday evening, a pharmacy at Gordon and Clairfields was robbed by two men described as black males wearing black hoodies, track pants, black gloves and medical masks. They made off with two plastic bags filled with narcotics. If you have any information call Detective Sergeant Chris Probst at 519-824-1212, ext. 7342, or email him at cprobst [at] guelphpolice.ca.

On Thursday evening, another south end pharmacy was robbed after two men entered the store, overwhelmed staff and made off with an undisclosed amount of product. The first suspect is described as a dark skinned male, 20-30 years, approximately 5’9”, wearing a black hoodie, black track pants with white stripes and white running shoes. The second is described as dark skinned male, 20-30 years, approximately 6’, wearing a black hoodie, black track pants and white running shoes. They fled in a black Hyundai Sedan. If you have any information get in touch with Cst. Jasmin Manini at JManini [at] guelphpolice.ca or call 519-824-1212 ext. 7273.

Traffic

A 34-year-old Guelph man was arrested and charged with five counts of operating a motor vehicle when prohibited under the Criminal Code, two charges of driving while suspended under the Highway Traffic Act and altering a licence plate after a traffic stop on York Road Wednesday.

A 34-year-old Guelph woman was charged with dangerous driving and breach of probation after a car struck the front of a business on Silvercreek near Greengate Road on Tuesday evening. No injuries were reported.

A 56-year-old Guelph man was charged with impaired operation, and his driver’s licence was suspended for 90 days after crashing his motorcycle on Downey near Pheasant Sunday evening. He was taken to the hospital for injuries including a broken clavicle and broken ribs.

A 48-year-old Guelph man was arrested for failing or refusing to provide a breath sample, and his driver’s licence was suspended for 90 days after trying a dozen times to provide a proper breath sample. The man was spotted by police last Saturday evening in an SUV parked on the curb in a plaza at Victoria and Arkell.

A 28-year-old Guelph man was charged with impaired operation and being a novice driver with alcohol in his system, and his driver’s licence was suspended for 90 days after police conducted a traffic stop on a driver who appeared to be impaired in the area of Kortright and Edinburgh at 2 am on Sunday.

Other Notes

The Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) Unit arrested a man this week for fail to comply with undertaking and resist arrest. He had been under investigation by police since last month for allegedly breaching conditions related to luring and making sexual explicit material available to a child charges. He was allegedly violent while being arrested.

A 24-year-old Guelph woman was charged with failing to re-attend court and a 41-year-old Guelph woman was charged with fail to re-attend court and fail to comply with release order after police were called to a disturbance on Willow Road early in the morning on Thursday.

Total calls for service last week: 1,541

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.