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.
Assault
Police are looking for a man who made an impression at two different Guelph businesses this week. On Tuesday evening, a man previously banned from a business near Paisley and Norfolk entered the building and began yelling at staff, threatening to kill them. As he was being removed from the business he tried to punch two employees but did not make contact. This same man also made graphic threats against staff members at a Stone Road West business on Wednesday afternoon after the suspect acted suspiciously and knocked over display items. The investigation is ongoing.
A 40-year-old Guelph man was charged with assault after an argument with his roommate about the way she takes care of her cats. The roommate was doing dishes in the kitchen when the suspect walked in and spit in her face.
On Tuesday evening, a 29-year-old Breslau man went to police headquarters where was arrested for two counts of assault for an incident earlier this month where a man as bitten on the arm and causing it to bleed. This is the third arrest in this case.
Break-Ins
On Tuesday officers were called to a residence near London and Dufferin after the homeowner woke up and found that the front door was ajar. She noticed some property missing including a laptop, cash and identification. If you have any information, call Constable Melissa Anthony at 519-824-1212, ext. 7487, email manthony [at] guelphpolice.ca.
A 36-year-old Guelph woman was has charged with break and enter dwelling house with intent to commit indictable offence, mischief under $5,000, and theft under $5,000 on Thursday morning after trying to break into a house on Downey at the Hanlon and then breaking into a shed on the property. A plastic ground sprinkler head, fuel stabilizer solution and landscaping fabric were stolen from the shed, and also damaged property at the residence.
A 36-year-old Hamilton man was charged with nine counts of break and enter, plus a 25-year-old Mississauga man and an 18-year-old Toronto man were each charge with one count of break and enter for a break-in at a business near Gordon and Harvard. The Hamilton man was a former employee of the business and had unlawfully entered the store eight times between mid-October and mid-December. Keys to the store were recovered following his arrest.
Drugs
On Wednesday, a 22-year-old Brampton man was arrested upon his release from Maplehurst Correctional Complex and charged with possessing fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking. This was in connection to an investigation that began this past summer with an altercation involving a firearm downtown, which recovered a loaded Glock firearm and approximately $6,000 worth of fentanyl. This is the fifth arrest in this case.
Fraud
The Guelph Police Service and Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre are warning residents about an increase in phishing scams ahead of the holiday travel season, specifically texts and emails alleging the receiver has unpaid Highway 407 tolls. The messages encourage the receiver to avoid fines and “secure your driver’s licence” by clicking on a link to pay the tolls online. Anyone receiving such a message should ignore and delete it and never click on a link or QR code.
On Friday a 38-year-old Cambridge man was arrested. He is charged with four counts of fraud over $5,000, two counts of fraud under $5,000 and mischief to data after defrauding a Guelph business of $108,000. The suspect was the head of the I.T. department but terminated in 2022 due to performance issues. It was discovered that between 2018 and 2019 he had received payments for computer equipment he purchased but had never actually order.
If you think you might be a victim of any fraud, call the Guelph Police Non-Emergency line is 519-824-5154, or contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 or online at their website.
Impaired Driving
A 68-year-old Guelph man was charged with operation while impaired, operation while impaired – 80 plus, fail to stop after accident, assault police with intent to resist arrest after striking another vehicle while trying to back into his driveway Thursday night. When police arrived on the scene, they struggled with the suspect as he resisted being taken into custody. An officer was injured in the process.
A 28-year-old Mississauga man was charged with impaired driving, and his licence was suspended for 90 days after midnight last Saturday after he was observed driving erratically near York and Victoria. Tests revealed that he had nearly three times the legal limit of alcohol in his system.
In a RIDE (Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere) event Saturday evening, approximately 550 motorists were stopped and checked for sobriety. Twelve roadside tests were conducted on drivers who had been drinking, resulting in two three-day driver’s licence suspensions for motorists who registered a ‘warn’ on the roadside device. Also, one driver was found to have cannabis readily available and was charged under the Cannabis Control Act. Several Highway Traffic Act offences were observed, resulting in warnings for failing to wear a seatbelt and driving while using a handheld device.
Theft
Early Sunday morning a person broke into a business on Woodlawn West while the store was closed and filled two reusable shopping bags with early $50,000 worth of scratch-off lottery tickets. The owner of the business advised the tickets were not activated at the time of the theft and would be flagged by the lottery corporation so they cannot be redeemed. Still, police are looking for a possible male with a medium build and wearing a black jacket, black pants, a white hoodie, white medical mask and black shoes or boots. If you have any information, call Constable Anthony Hall at 519-824-1212, ext. 7582, or email anthall [at] guelphpolice.ca.
Police are investigating two convenience store break-ins early Sunday, but it is not known if they are related:
At approximately 2 am police were called to a business near Arkell and Victoria where the front window smashed and surveillance video showed three men arriving in a white Jeep SUV, smashed the window broke into the cigarette cabinet and emptied the contents into the Jeep. They also broke into an ATM and removed an unknown quantity of cash. If you have any information, call Constable Michael Doehn at 519-824-1212, ext. 7587, or email mdoehn [at] guelphpolice.ca.
Just after 9 am, police were called to a business near Fife and Elmira after an employee arrived to discover a break-in. Just after 1 am, the front door was pried open and a padlock cut off an internal security gate. Several shelves of cigarettes were cleaned out and suspects also caused significant damage to a counter to access the store’s safe. If you have any information about this second incident call Constable Carson Skipper at 519-824-1212, ext. 7283, or email cskipper [at] guelphpolice.ca.
A 39-year-old Guelph man was charged with motor vehicle theft, two counts of possessing stolen property over $5,000, possessing a prohibited weapon, resisting arrest, possessing a controlled substance and more than a dozen counts of breaching court orders on Monday morning. These charges were in connected to the discovery of a stolen vehicle from Fergus back in October, which was also tied to a number of gas-and-go thefts at that time.
A 46-year-old Guelph man and 36-year-old Guelph woman are each charged with robbery, while the man was also charged with resisting arrest. The charges stem from theft of property from a U-Haul truck in the parking lot of Stone Road Mall last Friday evening.
Traffic
A 42-year-old Guelph man is charged with dangerous driving, flight from police and driving with open alcohol after taking off at a high rate of speed from a RIDE check at Wellington and Gordon. It’s worth noting that he was an Uber Eats driver.
Police are also investigating after another motorist fled another RIDE check last Saturday at approximately 11:40 pm at Victoria and Arkell. The driver of a white pick-up made a U-turn before the spot check and fled, and while an officer briefly pursued the truck but called it off in the interest of public safety. The investigation is ongoing.
Other Notes
Nothing else to report.
Total calls for service last week: 1,508
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.
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