Submitted: Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Police Bulletin

Calls for Service

Kingston Police had 125 calls for service during the 24 hour period starting from 5:00 a.m. on March 12, 2018. Of these, 95 calls occurred in the city central area, 21 in the west end, 1 in the east end, and 3 north of Highway 401. Some of these included:

• 4 domestic calls
• 4 assault calls
• 1 sexual assault
• 8 harassment calls
• 5 fight/disturbance calls
• 7 undesirable calls
• 1 drunk call
• 1 customer trouble call
• 2 custody dispute calls
• 2 alarm calls
• 1 noise complaint
• 2 trouble with kids calls
• 1 missing person call
• 2 Mental Health Act calls
• 4 medical assist calls
• 11 assist citizen calls
• 3 break and enter call
• 11 theft calls
• 3 shoplifting calls
• 1 theft of vehicle call
• 3 mischief calls
• 1 fraud call
• 4 motor vehicle collisions
• 1 impaired driving call
• 2 driving complaints
• 8 suspicious activity calls

There were 3 men arrested within the last 24 hours, between 25 and 41 years of age, for the following: fail to appear, harassment by repeated communication, unlicenced possession of a prohibited weapon, possession of a controlled substance, possession of a prohibited weapon, fraud over $500, breach undertaking, and breach recognizance. Two persons were arrested on outstanding warrants.

Residents are encouraged to view the Kingston Police Crime Mapping Tool that can be accessed through the website here. To further community awareness and improve accessibility to calls-for-police-service occurring in the community, Kingston Police has merged Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology with police calls-for-service data for user-friendly public consumption.

Windsor Man, Kitchener Woman Arrested for Drug Trafficking in Kingston

Release Date: March 13, 2018

18-8471

A 27-year-old Windsor man and a 22-year-old Kitchener woman have been arrested after an investigation by the Kingston Police Drug Unit. A 30-year-old local woman is currently wanted for her involvement.

On March 9, 2018 the Kingston Police Drug Unit obtained a controlled drug and substance act search warrant for a midtown hotel room. At approximately 3:30 p.m. Kingston Police Emergency Unit executed the warrant and located and arrested the 27-year-old male and 22-year-old female. A quantity of crack cocaine, Canadian currency, drug packaging, a digital scale and cell phones were seized. Additional crack cocaine was found on the male.

Both accused were transported to police headquarters. The male was held to attend a bail hearing and the female was released on conditions with a future court date.

The accused parties are jointly charged with possession of a controlled drug, possession of property obtained by crime, and possession for the purpose of trafficking.

Couple Caught with Drugs and Weapons after Man Drives with No Licence

Release Date: March 13, 2018

18-8744

A 25-year-old local man and a 31-year-old Verona woman were caught with drugs and weapons when a patrol officer spotted the unlicenced male driving.

On March 11, 2018 at approximately 9:00 p.m. a patrol officer observed a vehicle travelling eastbound on Weller Avenue. The accused male driver was known to be unlicenced and as the officer turned around the accused male suddenly turned into an address on Weller Avenue. As the officer pulled up behind the accused male climb over the accused female who was sitting in the passenger. The officer approached the vehicle and observed a pill bottle in the center console and a can of bear spray on the driver side door.

The pill bottle was found to contain suspected crystal methamphetamine and during a search of the vehicle officers found a baggie of suspected Percocet’s, an air soft pistol that resembles a Glock 40, and drug paraphernalia including glass pipes, digital scales and lighters.

Both accused were arrested and transported to police headquarters. The male accused was held to attend a bail hearing the following day. The female accused was released with a future court date.

Both accused were charged jointly with unlicenced possession of a prohibited weapon, and two counts of possession of a controlled substance. The male accused was additionally charged with possession of a prohibited weapon, and four counts of breach recognizance.

Woman Defrauds Employer $600,000 to Cover Her Mistakes

Release Date: March 13, 2018

17-42764

A 52-year-old Maxville woman has been charged after she misappropriated over 600,000 from her employer.

For the past several years the accused has acted as comptroller for a Kingston based business. During this time the accused sat on the boards of two charities located in Maxville, Ontario. Due to errors on her part, both charities incurred huge debts while the accused acted as the secretary treasurer. In an effort to keep the charities from falling into serious arrears the accused used her position as comptroller and began funneling money from her Kingston employer. Over the next three years the accused transferred just over $600,000 from the business into the bank accounts of both charities.

In December 18, 2017 the matter was reported to police and Detectives with the Kingston Police Fraud Unit began an investigation. It was determined some of the funds misappropriated by the accused to the charities were used to cover the expenses the accused incurred through her role as secretary treasurer.

On March 11, 2018 Detectives arrested the accused at her address in Maxville. The accused was transported to Kingston police headquarters where she was later released with a future court date.

The accused was charged with fraud over $5000.

EDITOR’S NOTE – Here is a link to charities registered in Maxville.  

Fraud Alert: iTunes Gift Cards and Fuel Cards

Release Date: March 13, 2018

The Kingston Police Fraud unit continues to receive complaints of fraud involving iTunes Gift Cards and Fuel Cards used as a form of currency.

The fraud usually involves contact by phone either directly or in-directly through an automated message, or through text messages or email messages. The message will be from someone instructing you to pay outstanding taxes, a legal fine, a utility or service bill, etc. To prevent you from having time to realize it is a scam, the contact usually has a sense of urgency that you pay immediately or risk further penalty, interest, arrest, charges, etc.

Here are a few examples:

• The fraudster claims to be with Canada Revenue Agency and failure to immediately pay taxes you owe will result in legal action and/or more interest.
• The fraudster claims to be and officer and if you do not immediately pay some sort of legal fine or bail charge, police will be at your door to arrest you.
• The fraudster claims to be with a utility or service company and threatens to cut off your heat/hydro, cable, water, etc. if you do not pay immediately.

The fraudster tells you the quickest and easiest way to pay your fines (to prevent arrest or charge) or fees (to prevent more interest) is by purchasing iTunes gift cards or Fuel gift cards. Once you purchase the card the fraudster will direct you to provide them with the numerical code revealed underneath the peel-off label on the back, in order to “pay your fine, fee, etc.” Once you give the fraudster the code, the money is gone almost immediately as the fraudsters can easily sell the loaded card numbers for a fraction of their retail price.

Those with some tech knowledge may easily recognize the above examples as frauds. However even tech savvy people have been scammed by fraudsters claiming the gift cards can be a way to use Apple Pay to avoid the security risks of linking your credit card to Apple Pay.

How to Prevent These Types of Frauds:

• Knowledge of the common frauds and scams is a big part. The Competition Bureau of Canada has a great educational resource, The Little Black Book of Scams, available here: http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/eng/03074.html
• Share the information. Even if you are not tricked by a fraud or scam, a family member, friend, neighbour, colleague, employee, etc. might be. So talk about it, share it on social media (use hashtage #FraudPreventionMonth), and report it:
  • If you were contacted by a fraudster, whether or not you lost money or property, you can help build information on current frauds and scams by reporting online to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at: http://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/reportincident-signalerincident/index-eng.htm.
  • If you are a resident of Kingston, you can also report the incident to Kingston Police online at: https://www.kingstonpolice.ca/services/online/crime-report/
• If you think you have just been scammed, contact Apple or the Gas Company immediately. They may be able to cancel the gift card before the funds are gone.
• Employers and employees who work where gift cards are sold, should have a conversation about these types of frauds. Have a plan in place of what should be done if a customer wants to purchase a large value of gift cards, especially if they seem to be doing so with some sense of urgency.

#FraudPreventionMonth #CrimePreventionONT #ygk