Aside from a handful of drunk-in-public arrests (two on Saturday and three on Sunday), and a few noisy parties, the three-day Halloween weekend was quiet for the Whistler RCMP.
However, during the past week the RCMP stopped a number of people - mostly Whistler residents - for drinking and driving. From Oct. 23 to Nov. 2, the police handed down five Immediate Roadside Prohibitions (IRPs) to drivers who failed the roadside screening device, resulting in immediate 90-day driving prohibitions, 30-day vehicle impoundments and other penalties now in effect across B.C. As well, three drivers tested in the "warn" range - between 0.05 and 0.08 per cent blood alcohol content - which resulted in three-day suspensions, three-day impoundments and other penalties. One driver was given a 24-hour driving prohibition for marijuana.
Two of those warnings and the 24-hour prohibition were handed down within an hour at a roadside safety checkstop in the early morning hours of Oct. 29. In other cases the RCMP stopped vehicles for offences that included driving without lights, not stopping at stoplights, and in one case for driving straight out of a turn lane.
Warning issued for counterfeit bills, fraud
The Whistler RCMP received a report on Oct. 25 from a retailer who had received a counterfeit U.S. $50 bill. They have since obtained a surveillance video, but in the meantime are looking for a male in his late 20s, wearing a dark shirt and hoodie. Shop owners are asked to be careful when accepting any currency.
On Nov. 2, the RCMP received a call from a local heliski company that was targetted in an attempted fraud. According to the report, a customer from the United Arab Emirates attempted to book a group tour valued over $7,000, then claimed to accidentally transfer 50,000 euros as payment. The fraudster then asked the heliski company to refund the money, at which point they contacted the police.
The RCMP is investigating, but the aim of the scam was to get the company to hand over actual cash after making a fake deposit.
Thieves make off with wood
A cord is a volume of firewood measuring roughly four-feet high, four feet wide and eight feet long and fills the back of an average pickup truck.
The RCMP are scratching their head after a homeowner returned from a vacation and discovered that a thief or thieves took roughly eight cords of wood from his residence on the 2700 block of Cheakamus Way. None of the neighbours noticed anything suspicious.
The wood is valued at $2,000.
The incident occurred between Oct. 18 and Oct. 26 while the homeowner was on vacation.
If you have any information, contact the Whistler RCMP at 604-932-3044 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
