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
An 18-year-old Guelph man was charged with assault police to resist arrest and possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose after a family dispute at an address on Cole Road on Tuesday. The man pushed an officer and then wrapped his arms around the officer’s shoulders and neck. He was detained and during the struggle a folding knife fell from his pocket.
On Friday, a 24-year-old Cambridge man was arrested for assault causing bodily harm for an October incident at Stone Mall where someone tried to intervene in a physical dispute between a male and female parked in a car. The victim suffered a concussion.
Three males – aged 17 to 19 – were cautioned for possessing weapons for a dangerous purpose and released without charges last Saturday night after a motorist reported people pointing firearms out the windows of a car on Edinburgh Road South. A search of the vehicle revealed three cap guns.
Break-Ins
At approximately 7:45 am on Thursday, police were called to a business near Massey and Elmira after the property manager arrived to find a broken window. A quantity of power tools were stolen and a large hole had been cut in the drywall in an apparently unsuccessful attempt to gain entry to a neighbouring business. While canvassing the area, police discovered trailers and storage containers at two other nearby businesses had been entered by cutting off the locks. A backpack leaf blower was reported stolen. If you have any information, call Constable Jay Hall at 519-824-1212, ext. 7136, or email jthall [at] guelphpolice.ca.
On Thursday, police were dispatched to a development in the north end after workers discovered that two of the finished but unoccupied units and a third still under construction were broken into. A water heater, water softener, compressor and batteries with a total value of more than $5,000 were stolen. If you have any information, call Constable Konrad Babol at 519-824-1212, ext. 7189, email kbabol [at] guelphpolice.ca.
Drugs
Nothing to report.
Fraud
On Wednesday night, a Guelph man reported that he listed an iPhone 15 Pro for sale on an online marketplace. He was contacted by a prospective buyer, who attended the victim’s house on Wednesday evening, but the seller said that he was suspicious of the $100 bills but accepted them after the buyer ensured him they were legitimate. But they were fake, and the buyer then deleted the Facebook account through which they had been communicating.
This week, a 26-year-old Brampton man was arrested for two counts each of fraud under $5,000 and unauthorized use of a credit card for a July incident where a man in his 80s posed as a bank investigator to steal credit cards and use them to make $5,000 in purchases. A suspect was identified as a result of a multi-jurisdictional investigation into similar scams across Ontario.
On Tuesday afternoon, a Guelph man in his 20s contacted police, and explained that he met a woman on a dating app and they began chatting via social media. During the chat the man sent an intimate video of himself, and then she sent the man screenshots of his Facebook friends list and threatened to publish the video if the man did not send her “thousands” of dollars. When the man said he could only pay $800, he received a call from a phone number registered in the Philippines demanding he send money. The victim got scared and deleted all his social media accounts, so, again, don’t share intimate images online with someone you don’t know.
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.
Human Trafficking/IPV
A Hamilton man was charged with possessing child sexual abuse and exploitation material, invitation to sexual touching and communicating with someone under 18 for the purpose of obtaining sexual services this week. The man was already arrested for luring a person under 16, sexual assault, sexual interference and criminal harassment in July for communicating with a 13-year-old Guelph girl through Snapchat, and later inappropriately touching the girl and her friend. The man’s phone was seized at the time of his arrest. As a result of further investigation, he was rearrested Wednesday.
Impaired Driving
A 37-year-old Guelph man was charged with impaired driving and failing to surrender proof of insurance on Monday afternoon when a man was found passed out in his vehicle in front of the LCBO store on Wellington. Tests revealed that he had more than three times the legal amount of alcohol in his system.
A 45-year-old Guelph man was charged with impaired driving last Friday evening after a police patrol bear Gordon and Arkell saw a pickup being driven erratically. He had more than twice the legal limit of alcohol in his system.
Theft
A 26-year-old Guelph man was charged with robbery, possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose, two counts of possessing a controlled substance and breaching a probation order on Tuesday afternoon. A resident said he was consuming drugs with another man when he was accused him of stealing other drugs. The suspect held the weapon towards the victim before stealing a quantity of cash and fleeing the apartment. A search recovered small amounts of suspected fentanyl and hydromorpohone.
Theft (Auto)
Just after 7 am last Friday, police were called to Guelph General Hospital after a car was reported stolen from the parking lot. It had been left running with the keys in the ignition. The owner tracked the car downtown, confronted the woman and got her keys back, but officers were unable to locate the suspect. She’s described as being in her late 20s or 30s with bright red hair (possibly a wig) and wearing a black winter jacket, blue hospital pants and black sandals. If you have any information, call Constable Aaron Miller at 519-824-1212, ext. 7383, or email amiller [at] guelphpolice.ca.
Just before noon on Monday, police were called to the area of Laird and Cooper where a man reported that his 2021 Freightliner had been stolen earlier in the morning from Cambridge and he was able to track it to the location in Guelph. The truck had sustained minor damage to wires and some of the owner’s personal property was missing. If you have any information, call Detective Constable Ryan Horvat of the Guelph Police Service Break Enter Auto Theft Unit at 519-824-1212, ext. 7485, or email rhorvat [at] guelphpolice.ca.
A 26-year-old Guelph man was charged with theft of a motor vehicle, possessing stolen property over $5,000, unauthorized use of a credit card, possessing a controlled substance and two counts of driving while prohibited on Tuesday. That morning, a Ford F150 was reported stolen from a Puslinch address, and that the owner’s credit cards had been used at a business on Victoria Road North. The Break Enter Auto Theft Unit located the truck unoccupied near Watt and Troy and made the arrest. During a search, officers located the victim’s identification as well as a small amount of suspected cocaine.
Traffic
A 21-year-old Windsor man was charged with stunt driving, speeding and driving without proper mufflers last Saturday afternoon when he was clocked travelling 134 kilometres per hour in a post 60 zone in the west end. Reminder: A stunt driving conviction will attract a minimum licence suspension of one year, a minimum fine of $2,000 and six demerit points.
A 32-year-old Guelph man was charged with dangerous driving and failing to remain last Saturday after police were called to Janefield and Torch the night before where a pickup truck slammed into a hydro pole. The driver was seen getting into the passenger seat of another vehicle and leaving the area.
Other Notes
Nothing else to report.
Total calls for service last week: 1,574
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.tip.
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