Running late to class results in fender bender

Around 11:20 a.m. on Tuesday, March 24, an officer was dispatched to the Water Street lot regarding a crash investigation. 

Roughly five minutes prior, the claimant was in the Water Street lot looking for a place to park her vehicle and was stopped in traffic behind the offender’s Ford. The offender suddenly reversed and backed into the victim’s Toyota.

The claimant made contact with the offender, and they both assessed the damage caused to their vehicles. The offender provided her driver’s license and contact information to the victim before leaving, stating that she was late for class.

The officer observed minor paint scuff marks on the Toyota’s front driver’s side bumper. There were no other visible damages to the vehicle. 

Later, the officer contacted the offender, and she disclosed that she was the only driver in the car at the time of the accident. She stated that she was looking to park her Ford westbound in the Water Street lot.

She said she drove by an open stall and stopped abruptly to park the vehicle. Since her vehicle was slightly ahead of the open stall, she chose to reverse. This is when she hit the Toyota. 

The offender also sustained a tiny paint scuff mark, which was almost invisible to the officer, near the passenger side taillight. 

She stated that she had performed all of the safety procedures before reversing but did not see the Toyota before backing up. 

The offender received a verbal warning for unsafe backing, and the officer completed a non-reportable crash report.

Drug paraphernalia in Putnam Prairie

At approximately 12:19 a.m. on Wednesday, March 25, two officers were conducting a random foot patrol in Putnam Prairie. During their patrol, they located several different items that were scattered around the area and appeared to be drug paraphernalia. 

The first item found was a small glass jar containing a lighter, a bottle of Ibuprofen and a small blue-and-green glass pipe with burnt residue. 

The jar also contained a small amount of wet plant material inside. The Ibuprofen bottle had a similar substance inside it. 

The officers also located a black metal Elevate-brand grinder near the jar. The grinder contained a green leafy substance. 

Approximately 20 feet from the original items, the officers noticed a wooden dugout. The dugout contained a metal cigarette pipe that contained a burnt residue.

The final item found was a Whip-It brand canister of “Premium Butane”.

The officers collected all of the items and logged them into evidence, but no suspect has been identified at this time. 

Fake driver’s license confiscated

At roughly 8:15 a.m. on Monday, March 30th an officer took into custody a driver’s license found by University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire grounds. The driver’s license had been found originally in the Towers Parking Lot. 

The officer in custody of the driver’s license found that the license was listed to a UW-Eau Claire student. 

After further investigation, the officer noticed that while the student was from Wisconsin, the ID had a different state listed. 

The officer continued their investigation and found that the student’s records showed different information than the ID. 

Based on the discrepancies and poor-quality hologram on the driver’s license, the officer concluded that the driver’s license was fake. 

The officer later made contact with the student and questioned him about the information on the driver’s license. The student gave responses that did not fully match the information on the driver’s license. 

After further conversation, the student admitted that the driver’s license was his and fake. 

He revealed that one of his friends had purchased it because the student was only 20 years old. He also admitted to intending to use the fake driver’s license to purchase alcohol and go into bars. 

The officer completed a citation for the possession of the fake driver’s license, and the license has stayed in police custody.

Lemke can be reached at [email protected].