POLICE BEAT: Police to question suspect in Credit Union bomb scare
By Erin Perkins
Grand Forks RCMP will be questioning a suspect they think may have been involved in the bomb scare at the Grand Forks Credit Union last week.
Grand Forks RCMP evacuated 37 staff from the credit union and everyone within a 300-foot circumference of the bank all day on Wednesday, Oct. 3 after a suspicious briefcase was found abandoned at the front doors at 9:20 a.m.
A dog bomb detection unit from Kelowna arrived much later that day, having been involved in a search for a missing hunter in Vernon that same day, said Grand Forks RCMP staff sergeant Jim Harrison.
After the dog determined there was a 99 per cent chance the briefcase contained no bomb, Harrison set about to remotely open the case. With the help of Duct tape and a 75 meter metal pole, Harrison used a police car for cover and opened the briefcase on site.
“We found it to be empty,” said Harrison, adding there was absolutely nothing inside, not even a pen. “It’s hard to say if it was a hoax.”
The suspect, a Grand Forks man, is known to police, said Harrison. Once the police have located and questioned him they will be able to determine the intent of having left the empty briefcase on the bank’s doorstep.
Depending on the outcome of the interview, the suspect could be facing charges of mischief.
Garbage thief caught in the act
A 52 year-old Grand Forks man has been charged with breaking and entering when Grand Forks RCMP caught him rummaging around in the Overwaitea dumpster, Saturday, Oct. 6.
When police arrived on scene at 2:27 a.m. they found the man inside the trash storage compound behind the grocery store.
He’d been in the dumpster stealing food, said Harrison. Amongst that garbage food was recalled meat from the recent Canadian Food Inspection Agency recall from meat processed at Brooks, Alberta plant, XL Foods.
“The dumpster had recalled meat that had been disposed of. There was danger in that and Overwaitea was deeply concerned because they didn’t want anyone getting sick,” said Harrison.
The same compound had been broken into only a few days earlier, but police have no suspects in that incident nor are they sure the two incidents are related at this time.
Rare guitar stolen from Bob’s Barber Shop
A rare Hagstrom Scandi guitar was stolen from Bob’s Barber Shop in Grand Forks last week.
Grand Forks RCMP were called to the 72ndStreet shop at 3:38 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 6 after a motion detector set off the shop’s security system. The front door had been forced open and the rare guitar stolen, said Harrison.
Harrison doesn’t believe the guitar was specifically targeted, but that the thief “grabbed what was available”.
Police have no suspects or witnesses at this time. If you have any information, please contact the Grand Forks RCMP at 250-442-8288 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
Gas sucker empties tank
About 45 litres of gas was syphoned from a pick-up truck parked along 75thStreet in Grand Forks over the past week.
Police were called to the scene at 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 5 when the owner discovered his gas tank had been sucked dry, even though he’d filled it and left it parked a week before. The incident could have happened anytime between Sept. 25 and Oct. 5, said Harrison.
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