Key-lamity at Bollinger

At approximately 6:45 p.m. on May 2, an officer was dispatched to a check person call at Bollinger Field. The Communications Center informed the officer that a mother requested him to check on her daughter.

The Communications Center said the woman’s daughter was locked out of her car and did not know how to handle the situation.

The officer went to Bollinger Field and located the individual, whose car was parked along West MacArthur Avenue. The individual said her keys were locked in the car and she did not know what to do.

The officer asked the individual if she had a spare key, to which she said her parents had the spare key, so she would either need to contact a locksmith to unlock the door or have her parents mail her the spare key.

Legally, the zone the individual was parked in did not have time limitations, according to the officer. The individual asked if the officer could provide her a ride to her apartment, and he said she would need to contact friends, a taxi or an Uber.

The individual called a friend who agreed to give her a ride. The officer stood with the individual while the friend drove to their location. The individual stated her friend was almost there and she no longer needed the officer to stay, so he cleared the scene.

Trouble at the three-way

On May 6, an officer was parked facing east on Garfield Avenue, watching for stop sign violations at the Garfield Avenue and Park Avenue intersection.

This intersection is controlled by a three-way stop sign that is not obstructed and visible from the road.

At approximately 7:17 a.m., the officer saw a small silver SUV traveling south on Park avenue at about 25 mph approaching the intersection. 

When the SUV reached the intersection, the officer observed it continue through without any attempts to slow down and stop for the stop sign.

On this day, the State Solo and Ensemble festival was happening on the UW-Eau Claire campus, so many pedestrians were crossing at the intersection.

The officer pulled into traffic, with proper attention to pedestrians, activated his emergency lights and initiated a traffic stop on the vehicle. The vehicle came to a stop at the Park Avenue and Roosevelt Avenue intersection.

At the stop, the officer made contact with the driver and explained the reason for the stop. The driver was identified by his driver license and said he was a UW-Eau Claire student participating in the Solo and Ensemble Festival and he was running late for his concession.

The officer returned to his squad car and conducted records on the driver and the vehicle using his Mobile Database Computer. The return indicated that the driver was valid to drive and with no warrants was not on probation.

The officer completed a citation for failure to stop at a stop sign. At completion, the officer issued the driver the citation, answered any questions he had and ended the traffic stop.

Price can be reached at [email protected].