Overall police in Clearwater had a relatively good weekend, but two incidents caused considerable damage.
Driver hides in trees
Just after midnight on Friday (early Saturday), the golf course owners heard a crash and called police. Turns out a vehicle had struck the side of the clubhouse causing extensive damage. Tracing back, police found a driver had been southbound on the Old North Thompson Highway. Once at Highway 5 he drove up on the traffic median taking out the stop sign, once across the highway he failed to negotiate a curve and drove down into the ditch, through a fence and onto the golf course. He then drove around through an irrigation canal to the backside of the clubhouse. At that point he struck a plastic garden shed, completely destroying it and forcing it in to the side of the building. There was extensive damage to the outer walls and the washroom located on the other side. When the officer arrived on scene the truck was there but no driver. The driver was located a short distance away hiding in the trees. There are charges against the registered owner of the truck.
Trio over indulge
In the early morning hours of Monday May 23 police were alerted to a rash of vandalism and theft incidents around Clearwater. Mailboxes had been overturned near the courthouse, several signs on Park Road were bent or broken off, a bench was moved onto the road, a culvert was placed across Clearwater Valley Road, and a car was damaged by rocks. In addition, the window of a small restaurant was broken, items were taken and a pail of cooking oil was dumped out on the Old North Thompson Highway. A second break and enter occurred near the police station with a large amount of sporting equipment being stolen.
As the investigation unfolded the identity of three suspects surfaced. Two of them are Clearwater males aged 22 and 20, the third is a younger man from Kamloops. The two Clearwater men have confessed to the two break-ins and thefts and most of the sporting goods have been recovered. They have agreed to pay restitution for damages and any unrecovered items from the two incidents. Police are still attempting to locate the Kamloops man, and continue to work to link the other files to this group, if they are responsible.
The trio had apparently enjoyed a few too many drinks while watching the Canucks win. Fueled by alcohol and lack of maturity, it appears that they went on a bit of a crime spree through Clearwater after the game ended. All of these senseless incidents did not have to happen. Damage was extensive and was a huge inconvenience to the owners, never mind the safety risk. It is surprising that there were no injuries associated to the incidents; the liability would have been huge. It would be terrible to see what would have happened if the Canucks had lost!
