A 58-year old Ponoka resident has lost approximately $9,000 in a scam.
It seems the resident met a man on a website who claimed to live in Canada but worked overseas. The scammer asked for money because their paycheck was frozen, due to its large amount.
After the money was sent to the UK the scammer requested a second amount, claiming their passport had been seized by authorities.
The Ponoka resident was also contacted by an individual claiming to be the scammer’s lawyer.
Fireman complaint
On March 13 the RCMP received a complaint of a 31-year old man driving aggressively.
The volunteer firefighter was using a green emergency strobe light but upon investigation it was discovered there was no fire emergency taking place at that time.
It was determined to be misuse and the man has been co-operative with the investigation.
911 call
A raspy, female voice called for 911 assistance March 14 at 11 a.m. and would only say she needed help, then put down the phone. She wouldn’t answer any other questions.
Police entered the residence through the basement window and found the 68-year old woman lying in bed, unresponsive and in medical distress.
She was taken to hospital shortly after.
Youths lose nerve
On March 14 at 9:30 p.m. four or five young men, suspected to be underage, entered a Ponoka liquor store.
One wore a face mask and another was carrying a piece of wood.
RCMP believe they may have been there to shoplift but lost their nerve without attempting anything. The clerk may have recognized one of the males and asked how his mother was doing.
Distracted driving
RCMP received complaint of a distracted driver at 5:30 p.m. on March 16.
The driver is believed to have been speeding northbound to the Leduc area while texting and smoking a bong at the same time.
No license plate was recorded and the vehicle was never located.
Heavily intoxicated fighter
A 21-year old man was kicked out of a Ponoka bar for fighting Saturday night and the owner called the police after the drunk repeatedly attempted to re-enter.
Once RCMP arrived on scene they were told the suspect had gotten into a taxi and was headed across the river.
The taxi was contacted and the suspect was found at his apartment by trails left in the snow.
Police found him very intoxicated and when they asked him to spell his name he used both letters and numbers.
The man was also under house arrest at the time of the incident. He’s been charged with assault and breaching conditional sentence order.