Face-to-Face Gunpoint Standoff with Avondale Suspect

From the St.Catharines Standard:

It was four minutes that felt like two hours.

Det. Const. Martin Cook doesn’t remember actually thinking anything when the masked bandit pointed the black handgun at him.

He doesn’t recall thinking he could get shot. Or that, after only six years as a Niagara Regional Police officer, he could be killed. Or that he might kill the man who had just threatened to shoot him. There wasn’t time to think. Only time to act. There was only reflex. Instinct. And training.

“It comes automatically. It absolutely does,” Cook said.

He faced the barrel of the man’s gun. Without any forethought or hesitation, the detective drew his own weapon. He barked an order, demanding the man stand down. Just as he was trained to do.

And there it was. Two weapons drawn in the eye blink of a moment that decided life or death.

Does he shoot or not?

Being an Avondale clerk hasn’t been the safest of jobs during the last 30 days.

Every few nights, clerks have been faced by a masked man armed with a kitchen knife. Then, after a few weeks, with a gun.

The bandit was prolific, sometimes robbing two Avondales a night.
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QEW Detour Plan ‘fell off the tracks’

From the St. Catharines Standard

Motorists travelling through St. Catharines on the QEW are a mile closer to traffic-jam relief whenever the highway shuts down.

Niagara Region and Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation have arranged a meeting in early June to discuss implementing an emergency detour plan.

The plan, in the works since 2003, would direct motorists off the highway through St. Catharines in the event of a QEW or Highway 406 closure.

Traffic confusion leading to road congestion was evident Tuesday afternoon when the QEW was closed after a concrete slab fell off the Martindale Bridge during rush-hour traffic. The bridge is slated to be replaced this year as part of a massive QEW expansion project through St. Catharines.

St. Catharines MPP Jim Bradley, the transportation minister, said implementing the plan has become a priority.

The province and the Region have “agreed to resolve this matter at the earliest opportunity,” Bradley said.

“Our ministry is contacting the Region to see if we can be helpful at all.

“It certainly would be advantageous to have it as quickly as possible. Our ministry’s determined to do it. The Region’s determined to do it. It should be done.”

Niagara Region transportation director Joe Cousins said earlier this week the detour plans were in the hands of MTO staff who had yet to approve them.

In turn, MTO spokeswoman Emna Dhahak said the ministry was waiting on the Region to get the approval of Ontario Provincial Police and Niagara Regional Police.

Cousins said Thursday miscommunication came into play.

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Woman Walks Off Roof in Welland

A 26-year-old woman from Niagara Falls fell off a second storey roof in downtown Welland early Wednesday morning, suffering serious head injuries.

The fall occurred sometime after 3 a.m. on Wednesday at 8 King St., said the Niagara Regional Police, who are investigating how the woman fell.

People from the residence dropped the victim off at the Welland hospital, said a police press release. She has since been transferred to Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto.

Police told The Tribune they believe at the time of the incident people were partying on the roof. The roof is accessible to tenants in the apartment building.

Police also believe drugs were involved but do not suspect foul play.

Read the whole article at Welland Tribune

Armed Robbery in Vineland

Yesterday around 3:55 pm a male, armed with a knife, attended a pharmacy in Vineland.

He demanded and received a quantity of narcotics from the store and then fled the business on foot, last seen running in the area of King Street and Victoria Avenue in Vineland.

The man is described as having tan like swarthy complexion, 5’2”, slight build, wearing a dark colored jacket with white lettering on the front and back.

Police are asking anyone with information to contact them at 905-688-4111 ext. 5411 or 5420.

Stevensville Crash

Something has to be done, and soon, say Stevensville residents after a 27-year-old woman was sent to hospital on Sunday night following a collision in Stevensville.

At approximately 9:50 p.m., the Welland woman was driving her 2006 Pontiac G6 northbound on Ott Road. Her car became airborne while crossing the railroad tracks just north of Church Road and bottomed out on the north side of the tracks.

The vehicle then rotated out of control and left the roadway. The right rear corner of the car crashed into a tree off the west side of Ott Road, causing excessive damage to the woman’s car and uprooting the tree.

Don and Carol Ashley, who live about 150 metres from the railway and directly across the street from where the Pontiac landed, said this kind of thing has to stop.

“Normally, you figure it’s a freak accident. Once in a lifetime you have your house hit. But when it goes across the street and it’s the same distance, we’ve got a problem. A big problem,” Carol said on Tuesday morning.

The Ashley’s house, at 2500 Ott Rd, was hit by a speeding driver in 2004, causing damage in the neighbourhood of $52,000.

Luckily, the male driver escaped serious injury and his auto insurance covered the housing damage.

The couple was watching television together on the quiet Sunday night when they heard screeching tires and a “big” crash.

“We grabbed our boots and a flashlight and went out. We were there before anybody,” Don said.

“The car was still running, lights on, smoke was everywhere. We looked in the side and we couldn’t see anybody…I looked closer and all I could see was a hand, so I think she was down under the dash.”

Read the rest of the article at Fort Erie Times

Welland Hockey Fight Leads To Arrest

A Welland youth has been charged with assault causing bodily harm in connection with an attack during a minor hockey game at Welland Arena in February.

Niagara Regional Police say the victim, whom they have not identified, sustained a broken nose that required surgery plus several other injuries as a result of “an unprovoked brutal attack,” during the minor hockey game.

Police issued a media release Tuesday, saying their investigation led to the arrest of one youth.

Sgt. Paul Blakely, who investigated the incident, said the victim, who was visiting the city from another community for the hockey game, has fully recovered from the incident.

“He’s fine.”

In addition to the broken nose, Blakely said the victim has a “minor concussion and a few scrapes and bruises, but he’s fine.”

Welland Minor Hockey Association president Doug Thomson said he wasn’t aware of the incident, and couldn’t comment on it specifically.

Continued at the Welland Tribune

Suspect Sought in Bank Robbery

From the St.Catharines Standard:

Niagara Regional Police are asking for the public’s help in solving a bank robbery in Merritton Friday morning.

Shortly after 11 a.m., a man at the Scotiabank on Merritt Street claimed he had a gun and demanded a clerk turn over cash.

He was given an undisclosed amount of money and fled the scene on foot, running north.

The NRP canine unit searched the area, but was unable to find the suspect.

No one was hurt during the robbery.

Police say the robber is white and in his mid-30s. He stands about 5-foot-6, has blue eyes and was clean-shaven. He was reported to be wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt.

The NRP are asking anyone with information to call 905-688-4111, ext. 4272, or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

Driving Blind in St. Catharines

Recently, police stopped a vehicle on Lake Street because the licence plates were not authorized for use on the vehicle. The 58-year-old male driver advised police that he has never possessed a driver’s licence. When asked why, he said he could not get a licence as his doctors had deemed him legally blind.

The man faces charges for driving without a licence, no insurance, using plates not authorized for the vehicle, and having expired validation.

Pedestrian Hit and Killed by Vehicle in Thorold

On Saturday at around 10:15 p.m., a 59 year-old male resident of Thorold, was crossing Queen Street South in an eastbound direction just north of Sullivan Avenue when he was struck by a southbound Chevrolet pick up truck. The pedestrian succumbed to his injuries at the scene and the driver of the pick-up truck was not injured.

Charged with Impaired Driving Cause Death, Driving with a Blood Alcohol Concentration in Excess of the Legal Limit and Criminal Negligence Cause Death is 78 year-old Earl J. Williamson. The name of the victim is not being released pending notification of next of kin.

This collision remains under investigation by members of the Collision Reconstruction Unit. Witnesses are asked to call Police at 905 688 4111 ext 5500.

Thorold House Fire Takes A Life

It was 2:57 a.m. yesterday, when the Niagara Regional Police and Thorold Fire Department were called to a house fire on Richmond Street near Cleveland Street in Thorold.

Police arrived within minutes to find the home engulfed in flames and smoke billowing out of the windows. Police and Fire personnel attempted to enter the home and made the discovery of a 39-year-old adult male lying on the floor inside the doorway. He was pronounced dead a short time later by the attending coroner. A dog was also found deceased inside the residence.

An autopsy has been scheduled and the cause of the fire is being investigated by the Office of the Ontario Fire Marshal. The identity of the deceased is being withheld at the request of the family of the victim.