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
A 39-year-old Guelph man was charged with unauthorized possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose early Friday after a group of men walked in front of a vehicle downtown. The driver got out of his car and confronted the men with a baton and got into a fight with one of them. When police arrived, they detected the odour of alcohol on the driver’s breath and he failed a roadside test.
Break-Ins
Some time between 9 pm on Wednesday and 9:15 am on Thursday, a restaurant located near York and Victoria was entered through a smashed glass door. Numerous items were taken including iPads, bottles of alcohol and cash. If you have any information, call Constable Hobbs at 519-824-1212 ext. 7540, or email him at jhobbs [at] guelphpolice.ca.
Last Friday at around 2 am, a Sea container at a south end business was entered after a hole had been cut in the fencing surrounding the business. The items taken were power tools, mainly chainsaws and rail saws. A red pickup truck, possibly an older model Chevrolet, was seen on CCTV leaving the area around the time of the incident. If you have any information, call Constable Jay Martin at 519-824-1212, ext. 7181, or email him at jmartin [at] guelphpolice.ca.
An east-end restaurant was entered sometime between its closing last Friday night and its opening last Saturday morning. It was reported that five bottles of alcohol, $100 cash, a tablet, and a cell phone were taken from the restaurant, which is located near the intersection of Victoria and Grange. If you have any information, call Constable Kyle Daneluik at 519-824-1212, ext. 7804, or email him at kdaneluik [at] guelphpolice.ca.
Fraud
On Tuesday morning, police received a report of an investment scam that saw a Guelph couple invest $140,000 into faulty GICs. The couple came across a website that seemed to be associated with a legitimate financial institution and then they talked to two individuals who claimed to be representatives and bought what they thought were high-yielding GICs. When the couple attempted to withdraw their investments from the accounts, they were informed that there was no record of their account and that the individuals they had spoken to were not who they claimed to be.
Last Saturday night at approximately 9:00 pm, a Guelph resident received a call from a 1-800 number and someone claiming to work for their bank claiming that the email and phone number of the account holder had been compromised. The caller then provided the victim with some of their personal information and the last 4 digits of their account number, but upon growing suspicious , the victim ended the call and called their financial institute to find that their account wad flagged and frozen due to suspicious activity.
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.
Theft
On Wednesday afternoon at approximately 3:02 pm, a man entered a downtown business and removed two bottles of non-alcoholic wine and exited without paying before entering a second building where he took two bottles of Vodka without paying for them. The man is described as white, with a medium build, wearing a grey jacket, blue jeans, a black hoodie and a black backpack. If you have any information, call Constable Geoffrey Hiebert at 519-824-1212, ext. 7290, or email him at ghiebert [at] guelphpolice.ca.
At approximately 2:45 pm last Saturday, two men entered a north-end business; one talked to a store employee to distract them, while the second one collected three Dewalt Heat Gun tools with a total value of $507. If you have any information call Constable Jonathan Schleen at 519-824-1212, ext. 7570, or email him at schleen [at] guelphpolice.ca.
On Monday evening at approximately 5:00 pm, a woman was observed by security at a south end store concealing several packages of beef under their arm. She went to the self checkout and paid for several items, just not the meat. She’s described as approximately 5′ 4″, white, shoulder-length dark hair; wearing a red Canadian Goose coat (hood with fur pulled up), obscuring their face, black gloves, red/black plaid pants, grey leg warmers wrapped around the knees of both legs, purple winter boots with black bottoms and white laces. If you have any information, call Constable Scott Wright at 519-824-1212, ext. 7330, or email him at swright [at] guelphpolice.ca.
Traffic
A 36-year-old Guelph man was charged with identity fraud, obstruct peace officer, failure to comply with an undertaking, failure to attend court, operation while prohibited, driving while under suspension, drive motor vehicle, and no currently validated permit on Sunday afternoon. The driver had a stolen I.D. and was suspended from driving under multiple suspensions and wanted on a bench warrant.
Other Notes
A 37-year-old Guelph man was charged with fail to attend court, unauthorized possession of a weapon, three counts of breach probation, two counts of possession of a weapon contrary to a prohibition order, and two counts of fail to comply with release order on Thursday evening. He was found with a collapsible baton and a throwing axe despite the fact he was previous charged in November for possession of a weapon contrary to a prohibition order and breach probation.
A 37-year-old Guelph man was charged with mischief under $5,000 Thursday morning after a man walked up to a unit inside a residential building near Willow and Dawson after he attempted to gain entry to the unit by kicking the fob entry lock off the door and then proceeded to leave the scene.
Total calls for service last week: 1,745
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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