Crimes of the Month has you surrounded
Come out with your hands up. It’s time once again for Crimes of the Month.
September’s crime scene was dominated by the Fourth Avenue shooting in which a 34-year old man allegedly discharged a homemade shotgun at police before being shot and taken to hospital where he remains.
Michael Andrew Arcand is facing seven charges, including attempted murder, carrying a homemade shotgun without reasonable precaution for the safety of other persons, possession of a homemade shotgun, possession of a firearm without a licence, and manufacturing a firearm. So in case you didn’t know that it’s against the law to make your own gun, it’s against the law to make your own gun.
NOT A LOT GOING ON
At the other end of the spectrum, we have an RCMP news release entitled “Break, Enter and Theft — Kelvington, SK.” Sometime between Sept. 29 and 30, someone broke into a building and stole a bicycle, which was later recovered. Meanwhile, in the distance, a dog barked.
I’LL HIDE THEM IN THE CONSOLE
Investigating stolen trucks in Saskatoon must feel like playing Whac-a-Mole. There were three on Sept. 6. In the first, somebody broke into a truck and stole it because the keys were in it. In the second, a suspect broke into a truck, found a set of keys for the owner’s car and stole that. In the third, the culprits drove off in an unlocked truck with the keys inside and sold it within hours. To quote the police press release: “The SPS is again urging the public to please secure their property and lock their vehicles.” Translation: “Don’t be so bleeping stupid, people!”
SLOW ON THE UPTAKE
A massive publicity campaign preceded the start of the school year, with motorists being warned repeatedly that school zones would be patrolled. Result? There were 106 speeding tickets issued on the first day and 147 on the second. As the old saying goes, “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t underestimate the obliviousness of Saskatoon drivers.”
UNREGISTERED RAKE
We don’t know why, but a 30-year-old man went manic on Monday, Sept. 11, around 10 p.m. First, he started swinging a chair at an employee of a business on Third Avenue. Then he threatened the worker with a machete. Then he threw a sign through a window. Then he threatened people with the machete and tried to stab a bystander with it. Then he pulled a rake from the back of a parked truck and waved it around. Then, when police arrived, he threatened them with the rake. As the police press release states, “the suspect failed to comply with commands from the officers at which time two Conducted Energy Weapons were deployed by two different officers.” He’s facing about nine charges. At this juncture, we can only hope for the safe return of the rake.
BIG BUST
Your cocaine dealer might not be answering his phone for a while. On Sept. 12, the drug unit arrested a 52-year-old man for trafficking on the street. His pal back in the car (a badass Hyundai Sonata) took off, colliding with three unmarked police cars. After executing a search warrant, cops found $45,000 in cash, cellphones and a safe. As part of the same investigation two weeks later, officers recovered $18,530, 70.7 grams of cocaine, some pot and two cars. They also arrested three more, um, entrepreneurs. The Hyundai driver hasn’t been located.
NIGHT CASHIER
On Sept. 26 just after midnight, a tallish armed robber demanded cash at knifepoint from a 22nd Street business. He took off with the till drawer. Maybe he does this all the time but we don’t know where he drops his drawers.
GUN-SMOKE
A guy asks a guy for a smoke. They’re in the alley behind Ave. W North at 10:15 p.m. When the victim pulls out his smokes, the accused pulls out a sawed-off shotgun and demands the whole pack. It’s a good thing he didn’t want the guy’s wallet, he would have used a bazooka.
That’s it for this month. We’ll be back next month. Unless, of course, people stop breaking the law.