By Thia James

Police continue to warn about vehicle damage

May 27, 2013 | 5:00 PM

Willful damage to vehicles around Prince Albert continues to plague the city, according the Prince Albert Police Service.

On Monday, the police said it continues to investigate incidents including windshield and side windows of vehicles being broken. In most of these cases, no items are taken and there are no witnesses or physical evidence left behind.

The latest incidents were reported in the:

-200 block of 20th Street East;
-800 block of 22nd Street East;
-1400 block of 6th Avenue East
-1000 block of 12th Street West;
-500 block of 26th Street East;
-1000 block of Knox Place; and
-500 block of 27th Street East.

Sgt. Kelly McLean said there were a few incidents that were closer together, but on different nights.

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“They’re not happening in a row, they’re not happening in one concentrated area. They’re all over the city,” he said.

“And again there’s valuables left in some of these cars that haven’t been touched. They’re just willful damages; it’s like somebody’s walking by, smashing these windows and moving on.”

He said their only hope to make an arrest is if members of the public report suspicious behaviour they witness to the police.

“If somebody hears these noises, hears the sound of the glass breaking, sees somebody loitering in the area, some kind of suspicious behaviour, then give us a call and we can respond, have a patrol car go down and have a look.”

Where unclaimed items recovered by police go

Residents who have had items lost or stolen have until the next city auction to claim their items from police.

“Whatever we can recover, if we can’t find an owner for those things – especially bikes, bikes are problematic because, you know, if the owner doesn’t come down and claim them, we have no serial number from the time of the report of the theft, it goes into our general merchandise, if you will, and it gets auctioned off every year,” McLean said.

This past weekend, the city held its annual spring auction, featuring items such as iPods, PlayStations, bicycles and cameras.

McLean said the problem owners may encounter in trying to identify an item as theirs is the lack of a serial number or identification mark, in the case of an iPod. When it comes to bicycles, he encourages people to take note of serial numbers or markings, and bring that to the police when they try to claim their item.

“And of course, the best advice is don’t leave that stuff in your vehicle,” he said. “Don’t leave it especially in plain view.”

He said if you must leave something in your vehicle, then lock it in your trunk or get it out of plain view.

And the police make regular efforts to try to re-unite owners with their lost and stolen items.

“If you lost a bike and you feel that you’re able to identify it, a bike’s been stolen, and you were unable to provide a serial number at that time, we do have bike viewing that’s available every Sunday afternoon at two o’clock.”

He said anyone coming to view the bikes should go to the front desk, and they’ll be taken by an officer to the bike compound. After the bike auction, there aren’t many bikes in the compound right now, but McLean said it’s fair to say there are dozens.

Quiet weekend for police

This weekend, the police responded to 277 service calls between Friday evening and Monday morning, arresting 54 people. Twenty-nine of those arrested were for public intoxication.

Woman faces multiple charges after man allegedly attacked with knife

A Prince Albert woman is facing numerous charges after a 44-year-old man was allegedly attacked with a knife on Thursday.

Police responded to a call just after 2 a.m. about a possible stabbing in the 400 block of 18th Street West. A man was located at the scene with stab wounds to the arm. He was taken to Victoria Hospital for treatment.

A 26-year-old woman suspected in the alleged stabbing fled before the police attended to the scene, and a K-9 track was attempted after a perimeter was established.

The woman was located in the area and taken into custody without incident.

Patricia A. Fern faces charges of assault with a weapon, and she was also arrested on outstanding warrants. She made her first court appearance on Friday in the Prince Albert Provincial Court and was remanded back into custody.

She appeared in court on Monday.

Police ticket man after observing pedestrian/vehicle accident

A 42-year-old Prince Albert man has been cited for failing to yield for a pedestrian after police observed a vehicle/pedestrian accident on Saturday evening.
The accident took place at the corner of 15th Street and Central Avenue, just before 10:25 p.m.

The vehicle was northbound on Central Avenue, and was attempting to make a right turn east on a red light onto 15th Avenue.

A 26-year-old woman was injured as she was walking west on the south side of 15th Street, crossing with a ‘walk’ signal.

She was taken to Victoria Hospital, where she was treated for a broken arm and released.

tjames@panow.com

On Twitter: @thiajames