Mission – Mission RCMP Activity – January 27 – February 2:
Multiple people called after a man assaulted two people in the area of 1st Avenue and Maple Street. Officers located the 50-year-old suspect nearby, and placed him under arrest. The man exhibited symptoms of significant intoxication, kicked at and spat at police, and made racial comments towards officers. He was transported to the Mission RCMP cell block, where he continued to actively resist officers. Multiple charges are being recommended. A 26-year-old female was transported to hospital with minor injuries.
Mission RCMP are asking for the public’s assistance in identifying an alleged serial-shoplifter. The man first came to the attention of Mission RCMP in December, when a loss prevention officer at a grocery store in Mission reported that the man attempted to steal several grocery items. Since then, the man has returned numerous times, allegedly stealing various products, including bottles of wine. The man is described as Caucasian, around 30 years old, with brown hair and a full beard, and usually wearing an orange flannel jacket and a yellow or orange baseball cap. If you can help identify this person, call Mission at 604-826-7161.
On the morning of January 27, staff at a liquor store in Mission reported that a male had just walked out with 4 bottles of tequila. Staff provided police with a description of the man, and the direction in which he departed. Officers located a man matching the description a short distance away, arrested him, and located the stolen bottles of liquor. Police determined he was also breaching previous conditions not to attend the liquor store. He was transported to cells for a bail hearing, which resulted in him being charged with theft and breach of an Undertaking.
A Mission resident recently lost around $45,000 in a cryptocurrency scam. The scam started after she clicked on a social media link, advertising for a job posting about doing promotions for other social media accounts. She subsequently received notification of the earnings she accrued for doing the job, but then had to e-transfer thousands of dollars and a large amount of cryptocurrency in order to unlock
her earnings. She stopped after realizing it was a scam. As often happens with these types of scams, the woman was then contacted by another company, claiming they could recover her lost funds – for a fee of around $2,000. Mission RCMP recommend using caution when sending funds online to any persons or businesses you are not familiar with, and to spread the word about these types of scams to your friends and family, to help others stay safe.
A pilot had to set down his ultra-light aircraft into Stave Lake on January 29, but was able to do so safely and without any injury. He advised that his Beaver RX550 may have to remain in the lake for a couple of days until recovery could be organized. No further details on the cause of the incident were available.
Multiple impaired drivers were taken off the roads last week, thanks to calls from concerned citizens. Around 5 pm on January 27, the driver of a black Jeep reportedly almost hit several vehicles and a power pole in the area of 7th Avenue and Stave Lake Street. Police located that driver just as he was returning home. He failed a roadside screening device test, and received a 90-day driving prohibition, and a 30-day vehicle impound. Three days later, multiple people called police after the driver of a grey Honda SUV crashed into several parked cars in the area of Bobcat Drive and Miller Crescent. The SUV eventually stopped after driving up against another parked vehicle on Harris Street near Hood Avenue. The 45-year-old male driver exhibited considerable signs of impairment. He was transported to the Mission RCMP detachment, where he provided breath samples over twice the legal limit. Criminal charges are being recommended.
On the lighter
side
Those who follow Mission RCMP’s Community Connection will likely have seen prior posts where a humorous occurrence is highlighted in a segment called On the lighter side
. This week, the segment is not intended to be humorous as much as it is cautionary in nature – but fits very well into the lighter
side feature…literally.
On the morning of January 28, a member of the public called 911 to report that a man was walking in the area of Park Street in Mission, holding a handgun in his hand. When this type of call is received, the 911 call-taker prioritizes the call over other 911 calls, and police likewise prioritize the response. Multiple officers are pulled away from other matters, and often drive with lights and sirens to quickly respond to the potentially urgent situation. Once there, due to the high-risk report of someone handling a handgun in a public place, officers may draw their guns, block traffic, and clear people out of the area. Officers may then direct the person with the gun to drop the weapon and to lie down on the ground, in order to help prevent the person from accessing another weapon or running away. It’s a high-risk, high-stress type of incident, where officers have to be ready to respond to a range of possible outcomes.
In this case, the handgun turned out to be a lighter, designed to look like a handgun. To be clear, this is not a criticism in any way of the person who reported it. From a distance, the lighter did look like a gun, and the person was right to report it – we would rather respond and ensure it’s not a firearm, than someone not report it, and the gun turn out to be real. This is also not an isolated incident. Similar incidents – involving a lighter gun – have been reported in at least one other Fraser Valley community recently. While the item itself is not illegal, it clearly causes concern from the public and police, and if it was ever used during a criminal offence, it could lead to charges of using an imitation firearm.
If you feel the need to possess such an item, you are strongly encouraged to be aware of how others will perceive it, and not to possess it in a public place. Specifically – please don’t walk around in public while holding it like a gun, don’t tuck it into your waistband, and don’t wave it around while meeting up with your friends. Doing so is likely going to get you some unwanted attention, and who knows, you might even end up being the cause of a future edition of the lighter
side.
