With the holiday season comes the annual “Festive RIDE” program, which kicked off this week and runs through Jan. 2. Drivers can expect to encounter stops.
In a release, police remind motorists that officers regularly conduct mandatory alcohol screening (MAS) with drivers who are lawfully pulled over and they will be ramping up that investigative measure, including RIDE stops, throughout the campaign. Heading into the fifth year under the MAS law, an officer with an approved alcohol screening device can demand a breath sample from any driver without having a reasonable suspicion that they have alcohol in their body.
Under impaired driving laws, the police can also demand that a driver submit to a standardized field sobriety test (SFST) and a drug recognition expert (DRE) evaluation. SFST- trained officers and DREs have the expertise to detect impairment by alcohol, drugs, or both in a driver.
NOVEMBER 10
5:00 PM | Emergency responders converged on the scene of a fatal farm accident involving a tractor at an address on Perth Line 43 in the Township of Perth East. The investigation found that an individual was working on a tractor when another tractor rolled back against the other. As a result, an 88-year-old man suffered serious life-threatening injuries and was pronounced deceased at the scene. The Perth County OPP are continuing to investigate the incident. The ministry of Labour was also notified.
NOVEMBER 11
7:50 AM | Waterloo Regional Police were contacted regarding theft of items from a vehicle in Elmira. At around 2 a.m. that day, an unknown suspect broke into a vehicle parked at a business on First Street East, smashing the rear side passenger window and stealing property. The suspect is described as wearing a grey toque, grey jacket and blue pants, and was seen riding a bicycle. Anyone with information is asked to call police or Crime Stoppers.
9:48 PM | Police received a report of a vehicle being driven dangerously in a parking lot on Snyders Flats Road in Bloomingdale. The complainant also thought they heard what may have been gunshots or the vehicle backfiring exhaust. The vehicle was gone upon arrival of police and no evidence of gunshots was located. Anyone with information is encouraged to call police or Crime Stoppers.
NOVEMBER 12
9:23 AM | Police received a report of a theft from a vehicle in Heidelberg. Sometime between 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 11 and 8 a.m. on Nov. 12, an unknown suspect(s) entered an unlocked vehicle parked in a driveway on Venus Crescent and stole personal property. Anyone with information is asked to call police or Crime Stoppers.
9:32 AM | Police were notified of a theft from a vehicle in New Hamburg. Sometime in the previous day, an unknown suspect(s) smashed the front driver’s side window of a vehicle parked in a driveway on Hostetler Road and stole personal property. Anyone with information is asked to call police or Crime Stoppers.
9:54 AM | Police received a report of a break and enter to a garage in Wellesley Township. Sometime between 10 p.m. on Nov. 11 and 9 a.m. on Nov. 12, an unknown suspect(s) entered an unlocked vehicle parked in a residential driveway on Lobsinger Line and stole personal property, including a garage door opener. The suspect(s) then used the opener to open the garage door to a home, but no property was taken. Anyone with information is asked to call police or Crime Stoppers.
10:56 AM | Police received another report of a theft from a vehicle parked on Hostetler Road in New Hamburg. Sometime between 2:30 a.m. and the time of the report, an unknown suspect(s) smashed a passenger side window of a vehicle parked in a driveway on Hostetler Road and stole personal property. Anyone with information is asked to call police or Crime Stoppers.
NOVEMBER 14
10:19 AM | Police were notified of an attempted theft from a vehicle in Conestogo. Sometime during the week of Nov. 7, an unknown suspect(s) entered a vehicle parked in a driveway on Golf Course Road. No items were stolen. Anyone with information is asked to call police or Crime Stoppers.
11:43 PM | Police received a report of a single-vehicle collision in Woolwich Township. A grey Dodge was travelling north on Arthur Street South near Sawmill Road when a deer ran across the road and was struck by the vehicle.
NOVEMBER 15
10:07 AM | A barricaded incident in Milverton eventually ended peacefully, with a suspect in custody facing criminal charges. Members of the Perth County OPP, along with the assistance of West Region OPP Emergency Response Team (ERT), West Region Canine, West Region Tactics & Rescue Unit (TRU) and crisis negotiators attended the scene on Pacific Avenue, which remained closed until the issue was resolved about 3:30 p.m.
The driver of a pickup truck suffered only minor injuries in a collision Tuesday around 7:20 a.m. at the roundabout near St. Jacobs. The southbound lanes of Arthur Street were closed at Scotch Line Road until just after 11 a.m. Waterloo Regional Police say the investigation is ongoing.
