Mission (Mission RCMP) – Calls for service last week: 300
Proactive patrols of identified hot spots: 12
Curfew checks: 2
Calls of interest:
On May 21, Mission RCMP received a report of a bus that had been stolen sometime earlier in the month. A witness reported seeing two individuals taking the bus a few weeks prior, from where it had been parked on Gunn Avenue. The bus is a large 1979 blue and silver highway bus, which had been converted into living quarters. Anyone with information about the theft should call Mission RCMP at 604-826-7161.
Mission RCMP were notified of a stolen vehicle driving along Sylvester Road on the afternoon of May 22. Officers located and stopped the vehicle, and took the driver and passenger into custody. The 40-year-old male driver from Hatzic also had a loaded airsoft pistol next to him, and an open bag of cannabis. Police are recommending a charge of possession of stolen property against the man.
Two reports have been received over the past week of people trying to use a common gold scam in Mission. In one case, the suspects were using a black Cadillac Escalade with Washington State license plates, while a white Dodge Durango was used another time. This scam typically involves a male and female – sometimes even with children – who approach people in a mall parking lot, claiming to have lost their wallet or otherwise suffered some recent tragedy. The suspects ask for cash, and offer to sell an item of (fake) gold or other jewelry in exchange. The suspects will ask for hundreds or even thousands of dollars, and will often encourage the kind-hearted individual to use a nearby ATM machine to withdraw additional cash for the transaction. The offenders then leave with a sum of cash, while the victim is left with a worthless piece of jewelry. Anyone being approached in this sort of manner should decline and immediately report the incident to police, to help keep others from being taken advantage of.
First responders attended to a single-vehicle collision on the Horne Street off-ramp on May 24 around 11:20 pm. A red Dodge Charger had driven through a concrete barrier and into the lanes of oncoming traffic, but fortunately did not strike any other vehicles. The 21-year-old female driver from Abbotsford was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. There was no indication that impairment was a factor, however the driver had only recently obtained her learner’s license and was driving without a required supervisor.
Around 9:30 pm on May 25, Mission RCMP received notification of an SOS signal from a hiker in the Stave Lake area. Police requested assistance from Mission Search and Rescue, who set up a command post and commenced a search near the Burma Forest Service Road. Search and Rescue members located a 40-year-old man from Maple Ridge, who had set out for a strenuous hike, but was unable to make it back out on his own. The man was uninjured, but was taken to hospital as a precaution.
On the lighter side:
From a call on the night of May 23:
If you were near the Fraser River, it was dusk, and you suddenly observed a crash, a flash, and a splash, over to the riverbank you might dash, and if bubbles were all you could see, it would be natural to think the worst, certainly. You would call police and report that you thought a car may have gone in, but you weren’t sure, as the lighting was so dim. Sure enough, Mission RCMP and Search and Rescue got the call, as well as paramedics and a truck from the local firehall. Up and down the riverbank they fanned out – was someone in trouble? had a car gone in? something certainly had, there was no doubt. And then there it was, floating in the dark and hard to see, no car had gone in, only a big old tree! The moral of this call is nonetheless important for all: if something has happened or you have concerns, always call us just in case and report what you see – we’ll come and we’ll help, because we’re the Mission RCMP.
