POLICE BEAT: Another small fire at Christina Lake
By Erin Perkins
Grand Forks RCMP will be working closely with Christina Lake Citizens On Patrol (COP) members to watch out for willful fire setting in the area after several individual incidents this spring.
The latest fire bug hit on Friday, April 27 on Ritchie Road in Christina Lake. Police were notified by a local resident that flyers from inside a blue box, located beside the mail boxes, had been lit on fire and burned. Neither boxes were damaged in the incident. When police attended, the complainant had already cleaned up the debris.
“This is cause for deep concern,” said Grand Forks RCMP staff sergeant Jim Harrison, who will be meeting with the Christina Lake COP tonight, Monday, April 30.
The last fire incident happened at the information gazebo on Christina Lake Frontage Road on Thursday, March 15. The plastic panel on the gazebo was damaged but the rest was saved. The fire had also been started with paper.
So far police have no witnesses or suspects in either incident. Anyone with information about the incident are encouraged to call Grand Forks RCMP at 250-442-8288.
Opening the flood gates
City of Grand Forks workers found city-owned flood valves in the Riverside Drive area had been opened by someone. They called in the police on Thursday, April 26 at 10:59 a.m.
The bypass valves are used in controlling the water levels in the dyke. Opening the valves could have caused flooding in the area and property damage if they hadn’t been found in time.
The valves are now underwater, so Harrison doesn’t anticipate another tampering incident for now.
Expired license plate stolen
A thief may be in for a bit of a surprise after stealing an expired license plate off a vehicle on Sion Frontage Road in Grand Forks. The vehicle has been parked behind a garage on that road for some time, said Harrison. So long, in fact, the owner couldn’t remember what the license plate number was or find the expired registration papers.
A useless plate or not, theft is theft. Someone caught with stolen license plates could face a charge of theft under $5,000 which holds a penalty of $500 or up to a maximum of 30 days in jail, said Harrison.
Minivan stolen, then found
A 1998 blue Ford Windstar was reported stolen on Friday, April 27 at 6:30 a.m. from it’s home on 12th street in Grand Forks.
The vehicle was later found by police parked on a private property on Granby Road, unharmed.
Harrison said the incident is unusual for around here.
“We don’t get a lot of vehicle thefts here,” said Harrison. “We tend to recover vehicles that were stolen from other places.”
