Youth caught on heritage property

Over the past few weeks, the Huntsville OPP along with staff from Muskoka Heritage Place on Brunel Road have been concerned with culprits trespassing and doing minor damage to the heritage property.

On Nov. 21, eight youth were caught inside a barn on the property. All of the youth attempted to run from the property but were caught by officers. The youth, all students from Huntsville High School, have been charged under the Trespass to Property Act.

Officers noted that candles had been burning in one of the buildings and would like to remind the community that Muskoka Heritage Place is private property.

OPP kicks off annual RIDE campaign

The OPP will begin their annual Festive Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere (RIDE) initiative at 12:01 a.m. on Friday. The province-wide campaign continues until Jan. 2, 2009.

With the holiday season fast approaching, the OPP want to reminds motorists of the danger of mixing alcohol or drugs with driving.

“Impaired driving continues to be the leading criminal cause of death in Canada,” said OPP commissioner Julian Fantino. “OPP officers will be out on the highways during the campaign conducting spot checks in an effort to remove the threat of the impaired driver and make the roads in Ontario safe.”

Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services Rick Bartolucci indicated that the government contributes annually to the RIDE campaign “because it’s the right thing to do.”

“We are steadfast in our determination to ensure our police partners have the resources needed to keep our roads safe, particularly during the festive season, so that a night of holiday fun does not turn into a night of tragedy,” he said.

Last year during the OPP’s five-week RIDE campaign, officers stopped 861,587 vehicles at roadside checkpoints. As a result, 342 persons were charged with alcohol-related offences and 869 12-hour suspensions were issued. In addition, officers issued 375 90-day licence suspensions.

“Ontario roads are among the safest in North America,” said chief superintendent Bill Grodzinski, commander of the OPP’s Highway Safety Division. “But we are working hard every day to make them even safer. The RIDE program has proved to be an effective deterrent and important tool to educate the driving public about the dangers of impaired driving.”

Officers will also be on the lookout for aggressive drivers, speeding, people not using seatbelts and those who fail to slow down or move over when passing an emergency vehicle stopped on the side of the road with its emergency lights activated.

Traffic stop leads to short pursuit

A Huntsville man has been charged after fleeing from police during a routine traffic stop.

On Nov. 13, officers from the Huntsville OPP attempted to conduct a traffic stop on King William Street when the driver of a 2000 Jeep W/T decided to flee from the police upon being requested to stop. Police discontinued the pursuit when it became obvious that the driver was not going to stop and it would be too dangerous to continue.

Twenty-four-year-old Tyler Ross of Huntsville was later located and arrested. He was charged with impaired driving, failing to comply with an undertaking and fleeing from police.

Ross is scheduled to appear Bracebridge court on Dec. 3 to answer to his charges.

On Nov. 21, Ross was again arrested for breaching his conditions and was charged with failing to comply with an undertaking and his bail conditions, and possession of a controlled substance. He was scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 25 to answer to those charges.