On Dec. 3 at approximately 5 a.m. the Ponoka RCMP responded to a single vehicle accident that happened on Highway 2 just south of the Matejka overpass.
A white holiday trailer was torn apart and laying in the centre of the median and sink from the trailer was in the left travel lane. While RCMP members were removing the sink from the highway an odor of propane could be detected. The leak was coming from a tank under the trailer.
The Ponoka County East District Fire Department was dispatched and while RCMP members were waiting for the fire department, it was observed that there was no frame on the trailer.
The frame was located approximately 400 metres north of the incident in a pullout area. Upon investigation it was found that the trailer belonged to a 36-year-old man from Pincher Creek who had been arrested by the Leduc RCMP for impaired driving shortly after the trailer incident occurred.
The man admitted to drinking and driving and stated that he hit the ditch and flipped the trailer. He was arrested for impaired driving and is to appear at the Leduc Courthouse Jan. 26.
Double gas-and-dash
On Nov. 26 the Ponoka RCMP attended to a double gas-and-dash at the Shell gas station.
Two vehicles had circled the station; one was a red Ford Raptor and the other was a black Ford Excursion. The Raptor stopped at the gas pump and began filling up the tank. The Excursion went to the diesel pump to fill up.
The drivers of these vehicles had been in communication with each other before they began filling their vehicles, say police. The employee on scene was occupied in the store with a customer and was unable to exit the store to assist the vehicles at the pumps. The Raptor left the station without paying for the fuel. The driver of the Excursion entered the store and informed the clerk that he did not have his wallet with him and would return to the store. The driver was asked for identification to allow him to leave the premises.
The driver then left the station and proceeded to cross into the McDonalds Restaurant parking lot. The vehicle then left in an unknown direction. The Ford Excursion was found to be stolen out of Saskatchewan.
File is currently under investigation.
Theft of license plate
On Dec. 1 at approximately 8:30 p.m. the Ponoka RCMP responded to a complaint of a theft of a license plate from a vehicle that was parked by John’s Restaurant in Ponoka.
A different plate had been put on the victim’s vehicle and a witness stated that a white Ford F150 had departed the scene into the back alley. A Mountie located the vehicle, which was stolen out of Red Deer, and a female suspect in the alley just east of the RCMP detachment.
The woman was going through the dumpster. Police recovered the stolen plate off of the vehicle she was driving and upon investigation also located stolen merchandise inside the truck. A 28-year-old woman from Red Deer was arrested and charged with theft under $5,000, possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000 and failing to comply with a probation order. She is to appear in court Jan. 20.
Vehicle theft
On Dec. 1 the Ponoka RCMP responded to a complaint of a theft of Nissan Sentra from 60 Avenue.
The complainant said they parked the vehicle and went inside the residence. When she came out of the house the vehicle was gone. The vehicle is described as a green 2002 Nissan Sentra with an Alberta license plate BVL6031. The file is currently under investigation.
New scam on the loose
The RCMP are again urging the public not to respond to requests for money via online or by phone.
The most recent scam involves asking the victim to be a liaison for an online company. The company sends cheques to the victim, who is asked to deposit the cheque into their own personal account. The victim is then asked to send the money from their personal account to another company but the original cheques go NSF.
Break and enter
On Dec. 3 the Ponoka RCMP were dispatched to complaint of a break, enter and theft from a garage located on Range Road 261.
Unknown suspects entered the garage and numerous items were stolen. A vehicle that was in the garage had also been compromised and an unknown license plate was located inside the vehicle. The file is currently under investigation.