Drinking and driving isn’t the smart thing to do.
Even dumber is trying to flee from the authorities, particularly when Rex the police dog is on duty.
Rex and his RCMP handler nabbed two suspected drunk drivers within two hours on Friday night.
At 10:41 p.m., an officer pulled over a suspected impaired driver on the Island Highway near Barlow Road.
When the white 1995 GMC pickup pulled over, the driver fled on foot, leaving the other occupants behind in their seats.
Fortunately, Rex and his handler were nearby, and on the scene within minutes.
From there it didn’t take long for Rex to sniff out the trail which led to an empty lot, full of brambles, where an 18-year-old Campbell River man was found and arrested.
He is facing possible charges of impaired driving and obstruction.
A while later, at 12:06 a.m., police responded to a complaint of a possible impaired driver parked on the Island Highway near the Duncan Bay store.
The caller had come across the vehicle which was parked, but facing the wrong way.
The passerby was concerned for the driver’s well-being, but quickly realized the man was intoxicated.
When Mounties arrived on the scene, the suspect driver had fled, but Rex was called in again and the man, a 53-year-old Sointula resident, was found nearby, hiding in bushes.
He was charged with impaired driving. His vehicle was also impounded.
Thefts and B&Es
Last Thursday afternoon, Campbell River RCMP responded to a complaint of a break, enter and theft from a residence in the 1300 block of Leed Road.
The caller was house sitting for the owners, came home and noticed items missing from the kitchen counter. A further examination found a screen missing off a window and the window open.
The Forensic Identification Section attended and examined the scene for evidence.
On April 23, a resident in the 200 block of McCarthy Street contacted police to report a possible B&E to his residence.
Between 9:30-10 p.m., the previous night, he had heard his downstairs door slam.
He thought it was a family member and didn’t think anything of it until he went out to his pickup truck in the morning to find it had been rummaged through.
Also on Tuesday morning, a resident on Thulin Street, between Evergreen Road and 1st Avenue, reported that the tie-down straps attached to their ATV in the back of their pickup had been cut.
Fortunately, the ATV had not been stolen.
This is consistent with other motorized vehicles stolen in the same area the previous week week.
Anyone with information about these crimes is asked to call RCMP or Crime Stoppers.
Expensive davit stolen
A custom-built lifting arm was stolen from a vessel docked at Discovery Marina.
The davit, valued at nearly $4,000, is used to hoist a dinghy. It is also specially designed to fit a particular boat, so it should be of no use to the thief except for the built-in electric winch.
Possible stolen boat motor
Recently, a local pawn shop received a boat engine for pawn which appeared suspicious.
The motor was checked and has not been reported stolen. If you have had a boat motor missing before April 18, and did not report it stolen to the Campbell River RCMP, please do so, as this may be your missing engine.
