re 86 calls to service.
May 4
Sooke police attended the 6000 block of Sooke Road after receiving a report of an unresponsive male in a vehicle. Officers conducted an impaired driving investigation and the driver refused to supply a breath sample into a roadside screening device. The vehicle was impounded for 30 days and the driver given a 90-day immediate roadside suspension. He is also scheduled to appear in court in July facing charges of refusal.
Two people spent several hours of their weekend in cells for being intoxicated in public.
May 7
A vehicle was stopped by police near Tugwell Road and the driver was noted to be impaired by alcohol. Her licence was immediately suspended for 90 days and the vehicle impounded for one month.
May 8
At 08:00 police attended a single motor vehicle collision on West Coast Road near Forebay Road. It appeared the driver was travelling at a high rate of speed and the driver lost control, going into the ditch and flipping the car onto its roof. No one was found at scene and the owner was contacted who claimed the vehicle had been stolen.
Someone attempted to steal a vehicle parked on Eustace Road by damaging the ignition.
Police are receiving many calls regarding bear sightings in Sooke. The public is reminded to take precautions to avoid attracting the animals to their yards.
If a bear is spotted contact the police if public safety is at risk. Otherwise, contact Conservation at 1-800-663-9453 or 24-hour number 1-877-952-7277.
A man and a woman are facing charges after a May 4 Federal RCMP Drug Enforcement investigation into a major marijuana grow-op and synthetic drug lab inside a home on the outskirts of Sooke,
The Island District federal drug section began its investigation in March of this year. On April 19, 2011, RCMP officers were granted a search warrant on a house in the 10400 block of West Coast Road in rural Sooke. A 45-year-old man was arrested at the home while his 41-year-old common-law wife was arrested while taking the couple’s two boys to school.
When RCMP drug investigators entered the home, led by the Federal Clandestine Laboratory Team and assisted by Police Dog Services, they found an entire basement converted to growing more than 700 marijuana plants with 20 halogen lights. Spread across the upstairs living area, the RCMP team found glassware, hotplates, a half-pound of suspected methamphetamine, and approximately 10 barrels of precursor chemicals.
It appears that the couple’s two boys, an 11-year-old sixth-grader and a seven-year-old first-grader, were living at the address with their parents.
Thanks to the assistance of a BC Hydro crew, power to the house was cut off so that the marijuana grow-op’s unsafe wiring would not cause a fire. The RCMP also used the services of a company specializing in the handling of hazardous materials to safely transport and dispose of the toxic, caustic chemicals used in the synthetic drug lab.
Given the serious danger of living in a house with chemicals and uncertified electrical wiring, the RCMP called in the Ministry of Children and Families. The MCF is in the midst of an investigation to ensure the welfare of the two boys.
Both the man and woman accused in this file have been release on a Promise to Appear on September 15, 2011, at Western Communities Court in Colwood. They are each charged with two counts of Production of a Controlled Substance and Possession of a Controlled Substance for the Purpose of Trafficking.
RCMP have some rolls of film and two disposable cameras they would like to return to their owner. These items were found three weeks ago roadside in the 8000 block of West Coast Road and just turned in this week. Please contact Cpl. Cottingham (250) 642-5241 ext. 2228.
If you know of a crime that has been committed call the Crimestoppers tip line at: 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
