Jesse Cole
Caledonia Courier
On July 22, 2014 Fort St. James RCMP officers were called to the scene of a single vehicle accident on a carrier service road near Fort St. James. The vehicle, a pick up truck had rolled several times and received significant damage. Upon investigation, RCMP found that the vehicles occupants had fled the scene of the accident. The two suspects were found a short distance away and were transported to hospital for significant, but non-life threatening injuries. The investigation is on going.
On July 22, 2014, Fort St. James RCMP received a call from the Tl'azt'en Band First Nation of a truck driving erratically in the Tl'azt'en Village. The truck had been driving on the beach in the village causing residents to leap out of the way and be in distress. RCMP located the vehicle which had been abandoned and later arrested one of two suspects in the incident. A warrant for arrest has been issued to for the second suspect in the case, Darwin Felix, a First Nations male. The vehicle involved has been seized and the investigation is ongoing.
On July 26, 2014 Fort St. James RCMP received a report if domestic assault which has taken place at a residence on Stuart Drive in Fort St. James. Subsequent to the investigation one male was arrested for domestic assault and later released with a promise to appear order and a condition of having no contact with the victim.
On July 28, 2014 Fort St. James RCMP received a complaint from the public around 1:30 p.m. of a driver driving erratically and suspected of being impaired. The RCMP were notified of the vehicle description and license plate number of the vehicle involved and stopped the vehicle as it was preparing to leave a parking lot at the Stuart strip mall. The suspect exhibited signs of alcohol impairment and was subsequently issued a blood-alcohol test of which the suspect failed to pass. The vehicle was impounded and the suspect was released later with a court date.
RCMP in Fort St. James report that they have observed a significant increase in impaired and prohibited drivers in the region. RCMP attribute this to the warm weather and seasonal festivities. They noted that they will be cracking down on impaired and prohibited drivers in the coming weeks with a number of check-stops and other initiatives to decrease the current trend.