Over the course of five days, the Weyburn Police Service dealt with three separate incidents that were all situations they don’t encounter very often.  

The first incident took place last Wednesday. Officers were called to a local store about a person in the store who was said to be wielding scissors and then left the store without paying for an item.  

“This was someone that had actually picked up a pair of scissors, and I believe the item that he walked out of the store with, or without paying for, was in fact the scissors,” explained Deputy Police Chief Brent VanDeSype. 

Officers were able to locate the man a short distance from the store and recognized the suspect had mental health concerns. He was apprehended under the Mental Health Act, and taken to the Weyburn General Hospital for assessment.  

Saturday, police received a call from a different store after a person was seen leaving the store with a number of electronic items that hadn’t been paid for.  

“The individual was seen just in the parking lot hanging out beside a parked vehicle, and officers were able to locate them,” said VanDeSype. “There was a small foot chase. The officer was able to catch up to the individual, though, and take him into custody.” 

The stolen items were recovered, and the suspect was charged with theft.  

The third incident, Sunday, would see someone who was already in the custody of the Weyburn Police Service end up in further hot water than they were already in. 

“This was an individual that was currently in custody on another matter, and when the officer went back there to talk to him because the individual was causing some mischief to the cells and, well, misbehaving, let’s put it for lack of a better word,” VanDesype said of the situation. “The individual actually slapped the officer, causing some damage to the officer’s glasses, so that individual now faces an additional charge of assault and mischief.” 

In all, the Weyburn Police Service dealt with 119 calls for service in the week ending January 14th. From those calls, there were 39 charges – 27 under the Criminal Code, nine under the Traffic Safety Act, and three under other acts or regulations.