Yellowknife (Jan 17/07) - RCMP received 179 calls this week, down 85 from the previous week.

"I'm going to suspect it's because of the extra-cold temperatures," said Const. Roxanne Dreilich.

"We received far fewer public intoxication calls, and calls for general mischief," she said.

A bad night to be on the road

A 22-year old woman was charged with care and control of a vehicle while intoxicated Jan. 13 when RCMP found she was drunk after she drove her vehicle into a pole and then a parked car.

Another woman, 20-years old, was charged with driving while intoxicated also on Jan. 13 after she drove her vehicle into several garbage cans on the side of the street, said Const. Dreilich.

Finger lickin' good... until the police arrive

A 33-year old man was charged with shoplifting Jan. 11 at the Extra Foods grocery store on Old Airport Road.

"He took a cooked chicken and ate it," said Const. Dreilich. "Then he tried to hide the packaging on a shelf and tried to leave."

Employees saw him on video surveillance, she said, and stopped him when he tried to leave the store. RCMP arrived shortly thereafter to arrest him.

Earlier the same day at the same grocery store, a 53-year old man was charged with shoplifting after trying to steal $135 worth of meat.

Heavy crime

A man was charged with breaking and entering on Jan. 4 after attempting to steal $13,000 worth of carvings from Northern Images gallery on Franklin Avenue.

The man was caught at the back of the building with a ladder two duffel bags filled with carvings. The police had been alerted when the business' alarm went off.

The bags weighed nearly 80 pounds each, said Const. Dreilich. The carvings recovered included renditions of a muskox, polar bear, ptarmigan, and a dancing bear, said Const. Dreilich.

Snowmobile thieves all teenage boys

Forty-four files have been opened for thefts or attempted thefts of snowmobiles since Nov. 15, said Const. Dreilich.

The majority of the machines wererecovered within a day or two, she said.

"In any case where charges were laid, all were youth," said Const. Dreilich.

One youth had mentioned an unofficial snowmobile-stealing competition, she said, but police have no proof of the existence of such a contest.

One female youth has been associated with a theft, she said, but every person charged with snowmobile theft this season has been male and between the ages of 13 and 17.