Incidents taken from Richmond Hill Police Department reports.

Matter of record

A Richmond Hill Police Department officer was sent to a room at a Richmond Hill motel on Saturday “in reference to an injured person,” a report said.

Once there, the officer met with a woman who told him that the night before “the bed frame to her bed fell apart causing the bed to fall on her foot,” the report said.

The woman told the officer she went to St. Joseph’s “due to swelling and pain and was diagnosed with a sprained right foot,” the report said, and the officer noted the woman’s “right foot to be in a brace and (the complainant) walking with crutches.”

The woman told the officer she wanted the report on file “for a civil law suit,” he wrote, and ended the report narrative by also noting: “I was advised by (another officer) that he had observed (complainant) earlier this day walking the hotel area without having to use crutches.”

Matter of record

Different motel, different problem.

An RHPD officer was sent to a room at a local around noon Saturday “for the report of a subject who believed he was overcharged in the hotel,” a report said.

Here’s what happened once the officer got there.

“(Complainant) explained he and his wife stayed in (a room) last night and there was an issue with the room wherein the water supply to the toilet came loose and flooded the room,” the report said, noting the complainant talked to the clerk Saturday morning about changing rooms but “there were no king rooms available so they decided to change hotels.”

The complainant said he tried to book a room at another hotel but “his card was denied because his money was tied up with the original charges,” the report said. “(Complainant) stated he returned to the motel requesting a full refund in cash and there was a heated exchange and he has been asked to leave the property.”

The officer told the man the issue was “unfortunately” a civil matter and that it wasn’t uncommon for a “funds not be immediately available even when a refund occurs due to processing,” the report said, and the complainant asked if the officer would talk to the manager “about allowing them to stay in a different room since his money was already tied up (at the motel).”

The officer spoke to the motel manager, “who explained the behavior and verbal assault (by the complainant), including racial slurs, was so excessive that he could not allow (complainant) to stay in the hotel,” the report said.

What’s more, “(The manager) advised that all charges were reversed because of the flooding issue even though he believed (complainant’s) unauthorized pets were the cause of the damage to the water line in the first place,” the report said, and noted “both parties agreed the pet fee was not discussed at the time of check-in although there are signs posted noting those fees clearly at the front desk.”

The officer did go to the room and “witnessed the toilet supply line noting that it was not connected to the toilet tank,” the report said. “There were no signs of animal damage (bite marks) to the supply line although it was unable to be determined how the line became unattached.”

The carpet in the room was “saturated and there were two stains (the manager) claimed to be animal feces,” the report said, and noted the complainant said his pets didn’t do it because they stayed in crates all night.

“Both parties were advised again that this was a civil matter and the options for resolution,” the report said.

Public drunk

An RHPD officer was dispatched to a Plantations Apartment address around 8:30 Friday, where he met with a 78-year-old woman who told him “her 50-year-old son … had been invited over to have dinner with the family,” a report said, noting things didn’t go well.

“She stated he was at her residence for a while and then left,” the report said. “He was gone for a few hours and when he returned he was acting very strange. She stated that he was likely intoxicated or high. She went on to explain she had major concerns when he began to publicly urinate around the exterior of her apartment complex and on his own clothing.”
Armed with a description of the man, police quickly found the man, who “was talking loudly and smelled strongly of an alcoholic beverage emitting from his person,” the report said.

No wonder. According to the report, the man, who claimed to have barely had y a few drinks, tested psoitive for alcohol with a .295, more than three times the legal limit. He was arrested for public drunk after “he began to yell abusive language at his elderly mother,” the report said.

Theft by deception

An RHPD officer was sent to the McDonald’s at Love’s Truck Stop on Saturday afternoon regarding what police call “fraudulent activity.” There, he was told by the restaurant manager that one of his cashiers was “tricked out of $47” by two men, one of whom had “crazy eyes.”

The manager told the officer the men came into the restaurant and while one acted as lookout, the other paid for fries with a $50 bill, “and started asking for different types of change back,” the report said. “When the transaction was over the cashier lost $47.”

The officer checked around and learned the two men “attempted the same act at Love’s,” a few minutes later, and apparently confused a cashier who, “advised that she thought she gave (one of the men) the right change but when her boss checked her cash register it was short $20. It is not known if the shortage was related to this incident. Love’s did not request a report.”

There was security camera footage of the men “while they tricked the cashiers,” but it wasn’t clear enough to show their faces because the men were wearing hats, the report said.

As for the “crazy eyes” bit, the manager of the restaurant “explained (the man’s eyes were) grey and a little cross eyed.”

Matter of record

Nobody’s safe from scam attempts, it seems. The daughter of a local motel reported Saturday she was bilked out of $1,400 after someone called saying the power was about to be cut off because of a problem with an automatic payment.

“(Complainant) stated the caller gave very specific directions on how to pay using Green Dot cash cards by phone,” the report said. “(She) stated after the transaction was made she followed with the power company and there was no record of the payment.”

The officer told the complainant “this was an ongoing and widespread scam involving several scenario’s but the same premise,” the report said.

The complainant gave the officer a phone number and he made the call.

“The subject identified herself as Stacy of the payment department. I stated I was contacted regarding a payment however the connection immediately became bad and Stacy advised I must have the wrong number. I identified myself as an RHPD officer and she hung up.”

The victim got a case number and was told how to get a copy of the report.