Submitted by  Sgt. Darren Kakuno
Detachment Commander
Columbia Valley RCMP

This past week, May 9 through May 15, the Columbia Valley RCMP responded to 54 calls for service. The following is a summary of some of the files our officers responded to.

• On Tuesday, May 10 at about 12:45 p.m., Columbia Valley RCMP officers conducted a road safety check at 14th Street and 15th Avenue in Invermere. Approximately forty vehicles were checked. No violation tickets were issued, however, a number of warnings were given. 

• On Thursday, May 12 at about 12:15 p.m., Columbia Valley RCMP received a report of an All-Terrain Vehicle accident in a remote area west of Edgewater. Two adults had been riding their ATV on a Forest Service Road when they hit a washout causing the passenger to be thrown from the ATV. Columbia Valley Search & Rescue located and extricated the passenger with the assistance of a helicopter. The passenger was transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. 

• On Friday, May 13, the owner of a GMC Sierra pickup truck discovered someone had broken one of the truck windows and stole a new Stihl chainsaw with a 24” bar, a Husqvarna chainsaw with a 20” bar and a set of keys. The theft occurred sometime overnight while the truck was parked in a lot on Copper Road in Invermere. 

• On Friday, May 13 at 7 p.m., an officer conducted a traffic stop with the driver of a Toyota Tacoma for failing to stop at a stop sign on Foresters Landing Road in Radium Hot Springs. The driver complied with a mandatory roadside screening device demand and blew two “warns”. As a result, the driver was issued a three-day immediate roadside driving prohibition and a violation ticket for failing to obey a stop sign. 

• On Friday, May 13 at about 11:45 p.m., an officer conducted a traffic stop with the driver of a Toyota Tacoma for failing to stop at a stop sign at the intersection of 7th Avenue and 9th Street in Invermere. While speaking to the driver, the officer formed suspicion the driver had consumed alcohol and read a roadside breath demand. The driver complied with the demand and blew two “fails”. As a result, the driver was issued a ninety-day driving prohibition and his vehicle was impounded for thirty days.