BLOTTER: Police reports published Aug. 8

Staff Reports

ONTARIO

Driver drowns in Welland Canal

Canadian authorities say a driver died after his car plunged into the Welland Canal in Port Colborne.

Niagara Regional Police say the accident happened about 2:25 a.m. Thursday. They say the man drove past flashing red lights and traffic control arms warning that a canal bridge was in the up position to allow boats to pass through.

The vehicle ended up on its roof at the bottom of the canal.

Police divers recovered the body of 24-year-old Joshua Mack of Ridgeway, Ont., who apparently was alone in the car.

—The Associated Press

Niagara Falls

• DRUG ARRESTS: Falls Roving Anti-Crime Unit officers made two marijuana possession arrests Tuesday. John W. Crumpton, 31, 628 Fourth St., was charged about 6:30 p.m. in a parking lot near Main Street and Linwood Avenue. Michelle E. Hertel, 23, 3874 Brailey Road, Wilson, was charged about 5 p.m. after a traffic stop at 18th Street and Whitney Avenue.

• INCIDENT: A 21-year-old Falls man being treated for a slash to his left arm told police he was cut Thursday morning by an older man who was weilding the knife at his pitbull. The victim said he was walking in the 400 block alley between Eight and Ninth streets when his dog growled at the older man, who pulled out a knife and accidentally slashed the victim.

• INCIDENT: A 20th Street resident reported that sometime between 12:30 and 10 a.m. someone kicked in a door, stole meat from a freezer and apparently put rat poison in coffee grounds.

Wilson

• DWI: Gary R. Bell, 54, 4379 Plank Road, Lockport, was charged Wednesday night with driving while intoxicated, failure to keep right, driving without a proper license and failing to wear a helmet on a motorcycle after an 11:29 p.m. traffic stop on Harris Avenue. Bell swerved several times before being stopped and when he pulled over he drove the motorcycle into a ditch. Deputies asked if Bell had been drinking, and he replied he “only drank six or seven beers,” the report said. Bell failed several field sobriety tests and refused to take a breath test.

Wheatfield

• STOLEN: A Lockport Road man reported a suspicious motorcycle parked next to a garage on Tuesday. The witness said a tall, bald white man had parked the motorcycle and covered it with a tarp. The man told the witness that he and a relative would be back to get it in a few hours. A DMV check showed the motorcycle had been reported stolen in Niagara Falls, the report said. Deputies contacted the registered owner, and the motorcycle was towed. Deputies kept watch over the area, putting garbage under the tarp to make it look like the motorcycle was still there, but the suspect did not return, the report said. The motorcycle is worth about $12,000.

Town of Lockport

• BURGLARY: An employee of Faery’s Plant Market on South Transit Road reported Thursday that overnight, someone entered a fenced-in area at the business and stole several items from an unlocked shed. The stolen items, including five park style benches, five gas cans and a weedwhacker, are worth about $929.95, the report said.

Newfane

• DRUGS: Jonathan L. Burdette, 22, 6533 E. Lake Road, Appleton, was charged early Wednesday with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and possession of a hypodermic instrument. Deputies reportedly saw Burdette riding his bike through a parking lot on Lockport-Olcott Road about 1:18 a.m. and stopped to talk to him. Burdette allegedly appeared nervous, and deputies noticed a large bulge in his right sock, the report said. When deputies asked what the bulge was, Burdette allegedly said, “I don’t remember.” Deputies searched him and reportedly found a plastic bag containing hypodermic needles in his sock, as well as a plastic bag containing cocaine and 22 white pills, believed to be Ativan. Burdette was held in lieu of $500 and is due Tuesday in Newfane Town Court.