An evening bike ride didn’t go as expected for a Stettler-area man, who ended up being arrested and remanded in custody.
Clyde Wooden, 33, was stopped on Oct. 13 around 10 p.m. as part of an ongoing investigation. At the time, he was biking through town.
When stopped by police, he was found to have a substantial amount of cocaine, methamphetamine, morphine and hash on his person, as well as several knives and a large quantity of cash.
Wooden is facing charges of possession for the purpose of trafficking, and when he appeared before a judge for bail, was denied.
“It’s a rare one,” Stettler RCMP Cpl. Ryan Koehli said of the reason why Wooden’s bail request was denied. While there were several mitigating factors, Koehli said, the one that stood out to him was the denial based on “protection and safety of the public.”
Domestic troubles
Police were called to a county residence at 8:40 p.m. on Oct. 14 after receiving a phone call from a “young child in the home,” Koehli said. Police responded to the home, where a 33-year-old woman had been assaulted, “pushed and shoved around,” Koehli explained. A vehicle and a mirror was also damaged before the argument ended, when the 33-year-oldman left the scene.
Koehli said a warrant has been issued for the man’s arrest, and the victim is OK.
A few days later on Oct. 17, a 4:45 a.m. 911 call brought police to the downtown core of Stettler. Residents of the area phoned 911 after hearing a woman screaming for help repeatedly.
Police found the woman, a 19-year-old, suffering from injuries of assault. As police arrived, the male suspect fled the scene.
According to Koehli, the woman was kept against her will in a home in the downtown area for two days, was assaulted and bitten.
A warrant was issued for the suspect’s arrest and he was picked up the next day by police. He is facing charges of assault causing bodily harm, assault, and mischief, to name some of the charges, and was remanded into custody by a judge.
The next day at 3:30 a.m., police responded to a 911 call in the 5900 block of 51 Avenue. The calls were made after area residents heard yelling and screaming, Koehli said.
A 28-year-old man was arrested and charged with assault against a 22-year-old woman. Young children were in the home at the time but were not harmed, he said.
Upping rural presence
RCMP have increased the number and frequency of the rural area patrols they’re doing, and have been responding to complaints about suspicious vehicles and people in an attempt to decrease the number of rural break-ins.
“You may not see us but we are going through a lot more, and it shows,” Koehli said, noting break-ins have decreased infrequency.
Still, he encourages people to remain alert and phone police if they notice suspicious behaviour.
Back at work
The RCMP member driving the cruiser that was damaged in the altercation earlier this month is back at work, having only suffered slight injuries, Koehli said.