SUNDRE — Local police reported an otherwise quiet Thanksgiving long weekend with no major motor vehicle collisions or impaired drivers apprehended.
“It was a great weekend,” said Cpl. Resus Organ.
From Friday, Oct. 8 to Monday, Oct. 11, the Sundre RCMP detachment responded to 34 complaints, the corporal said.
Reviewing reports filed by the department’s members, Organ said 26 of those complaints stemmed primarily from provincial statues such as traffic related issues, including minor collisions, as well as suspicious persons. Seven complaints pertained to the criminal code, he added.
“We had a break and enter at West Country Motors,” said Organ.
While that incident was reported at about 9 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 8, the break-in at the business located immediately south of the Main Avenue-Highway 27 corridor just east of the Bergen Road-Highway 760, is believed to have occurred some time between about 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. The culprits seem to have gained access to the building by breaking through a window and then opening the door, he said.
When he spoke with The Albertan on Thursday, Oct. 14, Organ said there were no known suspects or witnesses and that police had not yet received a list of any items reported stolen.
The corporal encourages anyone who might have information about this matter to either call the local department at 403-638-3675 or submit a tip anonymously by contacting Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
Police also dealt with a reported mischief out in Clearwater County, where an inebriated individual was found walking around outdoors. And in an instance where a broken down holiday trailer was reported to police as suspicious, the recreational vehicle was gone by the time police attended the scene, he said.
But overall, he said the long weekend went about as well as might be hoped for, without any major crashes attended to or impaired motorists arrested.
“Not a single one picked up,” he said.
Meanwhile, from a provincial perspective, Mounties elsewhere in Alberta had their hands a bit more full.
“Over the course of the holiday weekend, Alberta RCMP issued 2,270 tickets in support of the campaign and traffic safety enforcement,” reads a portion of a press statement issued on Oct. 14.
Throughout Canada, police services led a campaign called Operation Impact 2021, an initiative established by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police as part of an effort to encourage safe driving habits.
“There were four fatalities as a result of motor vehicle collisions across Alberta RCMP jurisdiction. Another 17 motor vehicle collisions resulted in injury,” reported police.
Officers patrolled roads and highways, along the way issuing tickets for traffic safety offences, including 1,151 speeding charges, 18 excessive speeding charges for drivers recklessly going more than 50 km/h over the posted limit, 53 driving without a seatbelt charges, and 46 distracted driving charges.
Additionally, 38 impaired drivers were removed from the roadways.
Keen-eyed and concerned Albertans also played a role in helping to keep the streets safe, police reported.
“RCMP received 67 calls from the public notifying them of dangerous or suspected impaired drivers. Twenty-one of these reports resulted in officers locating the vehicles, confirming that the drivers were in fact impaired, and then removing them from the road.”
Quiet weekend for fire crews as well
Meanwhile, members of the Sundre Fire Department also enjoyed a mostly quiet weekend.
The Thanksgiving long weekend tends to be far more quiet than May long and other summer statutory holidays since there are far fewer campers heading out into the backcountry, said Chief Ross Clews.
From Oct. 8 to Oct. 11, Clews said there were only about half a dozen calls, which were largely medical assists. One was a fire alarm that turned out to be a smoke detector that was accidentally triggered.
“We were stood down en route,” he said.
There was, however, an incident in the West Country that involved a horse rider who had to be flown out by STARS. But there were no structure fires or serious collisions reported or responded to, he added.
