Eau Claire or bust

At around noon on Friday, Feb. 16, a vehicle patrol conducted by the UW-Eau Claire Police Department discovered an Eau Claire Transit bus stopped with its hazards on. 

Several city vehicles and employees were observed by the bus attempting to fix a mechanical issue. The responding officer let the employees know that they would help with traffic control until the bus could be removed.

After about five minutes of the squad car being parked by the bus with its emergency lights on, the bus was able to start and continue driving without any issues. 

Collision on Water Street 

This incident, which occurred around 3:20 p.m., also happened Friday, Feb. 16. An officer was dispatched to the Water Street parking lot in regards to a property crash and made contact with the caller.

The caller identified themselves as the driver of the car who had caused the crash. The initial incident happened around 10:45 a.m. on, Monday, Feb. 12.

The subject was attempting a parking maneuver within the lot, and when trying to turn into an empty parking spot, she struck a parked vehicle. This vehicle was legally parked and unoccupied at the time of the incident.

Damages sustained during the crash were minor, including some paint transfer on the stationary vehicle to the rear driver’s side bumper. The subject’s car sustained some minor damage to the front passenger’s side bumper. 

The moving vehicle was identified as a Toyota Prius by the subject, and it was also verified that she was currently insured. 

The driver said she placed a note with all of her information, but after not hearing anything from the parked car’s owner, she simply wanted the crash documented in a Police report.

She was also able to provide an officer with several pictures detailing the damages from the crash. 

Due to the time delay in contacting the police and lack of correspondence with the owner of the parked vehicle, the officer referred the subject to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s website to complete an online Driver Report of Accident from (DROA) regarding the crash.

The subject reiterated her worries of getting in trouble for not having the crash reported, but was reassured by the officer and answered the rest of her questions before ending the call. 

A police report has been compiled in case the owner of the parked car contacted the police. 

Smells of marijuana in the McDonald’s parking lot

At approximately 5:23 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 17, an officer was conducting a traffic stop in the McDonald’s parking lot on Craig Road in Eau Claire and was requesting another officer over radio be sent, as he smelled the odor of marijuana. 

A female officer, who was listening to dispatch at the time, informed the male officer already on the scene that she would report to the area after asking the Communications Center if assistance was needed. 

The female officer met with the male officer, who said he had initially pulled the vehicle over for speeding and then smelled marijuana. Both officers approached the vehicle and asked the vehicle operator and a passenger to exit, so a search could be conducted.

They stood outside and reportedly began to shiver, despite the male officers offer to sit in his squad as it was cold that morning. The female officer then asked if they would allow her to frisk them before sitting in her squad car, which they agreed to.

Nothing of interest was found and both persons sat in the squad car during the duration of the search. While the smell still lingered, nothing was found in the car and everyone went back to their respective vehicles before the scene was cleared. 

Moris can be reached at [email protected].