Police blotter

British Columbia: A man recently walked into the Nanaimo Country Club Centre, allegedly with the intention of robbing the place. He jumped the counter and detonated bear spray into the clerk’s face, but couldn’t open the till. He then fled to the parking lot, spraying another man who tried to grab him; outside, he sprayed two more people before escaping in a white van. He was later arrested by the RCMP.

Alberta: A 32-year-old man, dubbed “Wile E. Coyote” by a judge, admitted to negligent arson after causing $70,000 in damage in a home explosion. He was trying to make hash oil by dumping butane onto marijuana in a pipe; the highly flammable material exploded while he was nearby playing video games.

Saskatchewan: A rancher near Bjorkdale, Sask., was charged under the province’s Stray Animals Act. Bulls were twice found fighting near a neighbour’s home after they escaped the man’s shoddy fencing. The same neighbour later came across about 100 cattle from the man’s ranch in her red clover field. A judge dismissed the charges last week.

Ontario: Police arrested 21 people for allegedly tricking thousands of kind-hearted Canadians and Americans into donating more than $3 million to phony teen-help and anti-suicide charities in a major telemarketing scam. The cops busted into “boiler room” operations in Kingston and Belleville, where calls went out through an autodialler machine.

Nova Scotia: Nine people were arrested and nine vehicles—including two BMWs and an Acura—were seized in a Halifax-area drug bust following a six-month investigation. Police displayed 75 kg of B.C.-grown marijuana in six large hockey bags at a press conference announcing the bust. They also found seven kilograms of imported cocaine, several grams of hash and hash oil, and $185,000.