On Dec. 3, a warrant was issued for Avery Hunter from Stoney First Nation, from an incident where it was alleged Hunter held a knife and took a fire-arm from a 76-year old male from Cochrane.
The Cochranite was hunting on Stoney First Nation and had agreed to the sale of firearms but backed out of the deal. Hunter was known by the victim and after numerous attempts by RCMP to locate Hunter, he finally contacted the Cochrane RCMP and surrendered in person on Dec. 9.
Hunter has been charged with robbery and is scheduled to make his first court appearance on Dec. 15 at Cochrane Provincial Court.
Local vehicles broken into and stolen
On Dec. 14, Cochrane RCMP responded to a number of complaints in the Fireside subdivision of thefts from vehicles and two vehicles thefts.
One vehicle was found in Fireside but the second vehicle, a grey Toyota RAV4 with license plate HAY966, is still missing. A Caucasian male with brown hair, late twenties or early thirties was seen at 4:15 a.m. near the recovered vehicle with a black SUV.
If anyone sees the missing vehicle, they are advised not to approach but call 911. If the vehicle is unoccupied call the complaint line at 403-932-2211. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the Cochrane RCMP at 403-851-8000 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
Stoney First Nation man enters guilt plea to several charges
Sedrick Powderface recently plead guilty to several charges, including firearm related offences.
On Sept. 29 at 5:30 a.m. Cochrane RCMP responded to a complaint at a residence on Stoney First Nation for a report of domestic assault. It was alleged Powderface had assaulted his wife and another female in the residence, and it was all alleged that a firearm was produced during this assault and was fired after his common law and children had fled.
Powderface was arrested later that morning by Cochrane RCMP. The police located Powderface in the backseat of the truck, being driven by two male associates, while in possession of a hunting rifle and ammunition.
On Dec. 10, Powderface was scheduled for a trial on the charges he faced from the incident but instead Powderface, who was represented by defence council, changed his plea from not guilty to guilty on several charges including; possession of a firearm when prohibited by a court order, where he received a five month jail sentence and was fined $200 for the victim surcharge; pointing a firearm and possession of a weapon dangerous to the public, where he received a five month jail sentence and was fined $200 for each charge; and two counts of breach of his release conditions from a prior charge, where he received 30 day jail sentence on each charge and fined a $200 victim surcharge on each count.
Powderface has yet to go to court on the charges stemming from the domestic assault on his common law wife and another female, who will not be named. The trial date for these offences have been scheduled for Jan. 7, 2016.
Checkstops show increase of driving while high
During the Dec. 4/5 checkstops, RCMP issued three 24-hour suspensions for drug use and also laid three possession charges.
“The one thing that was noticeable was there seems to be an increase of people driving under the influence of drugs,” said Sgt. Dave Hardy.
“People, education-wise, may think they could drive under the influence of a marijuana joint and still operation a motor vehicle with no repercussions and that it is not illegal but actually it is.”
The Cochrane RCMP pulled over approximately 1,000 vehicles during the first weekend of their check stop blitz, with only one driver impaired by alcohol. There was also the three possession charges, two three-day suspensions for alcohol, two open liquor tickets, two seatbelt tickets and 20 tickets for vehicle-registration/driver’s-license/insurance issues.
“In the end, in terms of alcohol, it would have been nice to have zero (issues) but there were a few. It wasn’t overwhelming by any regard,” Hardy said.
The big issue remained to be drugs, marijuana to be specific.
“It is one thing to use cannabis, that is not really our area, there is lots of people that use but using it and driving a motor vehicle is unacceptable… and we will be looking for that,” Hardy said.
“Marijuana really smells and it is tough to mask that odor and if you are using it in your car, it is not really an intelligent thing to do.”
If a person is caught driving while under the influence of cannabis, the police will issue a field sobriety test to the driver. If the driver fails the test, an officer trained in drug recognition will then do another series of test to determine the driver’s sobriety. Upon failing those tests, the driver will then be placed under arrest for impaired driving by drug and be charged.
Then samples are collected (legally) and sent away to a lab to get results of what drugs were consumed. Once drug use is confirmed, impaired driving charges are laid.
“Over a dozen charges have been laid in the past six months,” Hardy said referring to drivers under the influence of marijuana.
“Eventually it is going to catch up to you and your going to get caught and prosecuted.”
Expect to see a higher RCMP presence for the rest of December during multiple check stops throughout the holiday season.
“There is more opportunity to consume alcohol and possibly drive a car and we just want people to make smart decisions and make alternative arrangements so they don’t have to drive,” Hardy said.
Tips drinking during the holiday season (or anytime);
Plan ahead
Make alternative arrangements
Carpool/taxi
Stay at a friends place
“It’s better to crash on someone’s couch then to crash on the highway,” Hardy said.
