Category Archives: Crime

High Risk Driving Blitz Yields Impaired Drivers

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The RCMP West Kootenay Integrated Road Safety Unit was active this past weekend as part of a month long ‘High Risk Driving Blitz’. You can read about it on the Trail detachment’s website. It doesn’t give a bunch of statistics, only the number of tickets issued during the blitz – 116. But it does point out a few of the problem drivers they encountered.

They took a drunk driver off the road in a school zone at 3:30PM in Warfield. That’s around the time kids are out and about in the area . . . good that they got him of the road.

One day at Wilgress Lake the twice encountered a broken down vehicle and its driver. The first time they gave him a lift so he could get help. The next time they saw him he was behind the wheel of that same broken down vehicle as it was being illegally towed by a pick-up truck. Turns out the driver of the towing vehicle failed the roadside alcohol test so they stopped him doing what he was doing . . . and took away his license to drive for 90 days. So instead of saving the cost of a single tow job they ended up with both vehicles being towed and a fine as well. A membership in BCAA would have been cheaper . . .

Beware of Fraudulent GoFundMe Campaign Scam

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UPDATE MAY 13: The fake GoFundMe campaign mentioned in the article below has been shut down. Thank you to all who took part in reporting it and helping terminate it.

Apparently someone has set up a GoFundMe campaign to try and solicit funds from unsuspecting people. Not only that but they have tried to impersonate Community Futures to add credence to their fake campaign.

The FAKE campaign is currently at this address: https://www.gofundme.com/grand-forks-bc-flood-help

DO NOT DONATE.

Community Futures Boundary says this on their Facebook page:

Dear Boundary Community – please note that we’ve recently been made aware that a fraudulent “GO FUND ME” campaign has been created and posted as a CF Boundary Initiative. THIS IS NOT A CF BOUNDARY campaign and we are actively working to have it withdrawn. Please DO NOT contribute to this campaign. We apologize for any inconvenience and our hearts are with all of those in our communities who have been affected by these tragic floods. Stay Safe!

If you found yourself at a GoFundMe page and think it might be this one you can look at these details.

Note the bad spelling and inconsistent formatting style.

Always be careful when donating money. Check if you’re unsure about anything.

NOTE There are two other campaigns related to the Flooding in Grand Forks currently on GoFundMe. One of them  has diverted itself (and potential donors) to the other. That is one apparently was set up by Chuck Varabioff who is originally from Grand Forks and is the main driving force behind the Cannafest music festival. As far as we know at this time we have no reason to doubt it’s veracity.

Thefts from Vehicles and CRA scams

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File Number: Thefts from Vehicles/CRA scams

The Grand Forks RCMP would like to notify the citizens of Grand Forks that there have 21 complaints of theft from vehicles since January 1, 2018.

Unfortunately most of these thefts have been from unlocked vehicles and some of the stolen property has been unsecured items in the boxes of trucks.
Please lock up or remove valuables from your vehicles, and keep things like loose change out of sight.

If you have any information regarding these thefts you can call the Grand Forks RCMP at 250-442-8288. If you wish to remain anonymous you can call crime stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).

As a reminder numerous citizens of Grand Forks have been contacted by scammers who are posing as an agent for the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

The scammer demanded money for back taxes, fines and a fee. The scammer told the citizen that the RCMP would be contacting the citizen if he did not pay. This is a scam. New to this scam is a letter from the CRA indicating that the addressee needs to contact the CRA to update their personal information.
“The CRA takes these matters very seriously and provides substantial information to Canadians about how to protect themselves from scams undertaken using the CRA’s name. Informing yourself is particularly important during the tax filing season, when such scams peak,” said the Honourable Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of National Revenue. This information, including examples of real scam telephone calls and e-mails, can be easily found on the CRA web site. The
below link is a wealth of information on various CRA scams. https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/corporate/security/protect-yourself-against-fraud.html

You may also obtain a brochure on Fraud Awareness and how to protect yourself against fraud from the Grand Forks RCMP Detachment.

Sincerely,
Sgt. J. (Jim) FENSKE
Detachment Commander
Boundary Regional RCMP

Altercation Leads To Stabbing

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March 4th, 2018

Shortly before 4:00 p.m. Grand Forks RCMP members responded to a complaint of an Assault.

The subsequent investigation revealed that there was an altercation involving several males and during the altercation one male was stabbed. The matter is still under investigation and RCMP will be recommending charges. The male that was stabbed suffered non-life threatening injuries.

This was not a random attack, there is no danger to the public.

If you have any information regarding these crimes please call Cst. Corey Flodell (investigator) at 250-442-8288. If you wish to remain anonymous you can call crime stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS)