Police seek to ‘stake out’ local area
Theft and removal of construction stakes more than just a minor nuisance — it costs taxpayers money
By JESSICA KELLER
ARGUS OBSERVER
Saturday, September 26, 2009 11:06 PM PDT
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| Jessica Keller | Argus Observer Stakes such as these that line the sides of North Oregon Street are part of the construction project there. Ontario police are asking residents to call in any activity where people are removing them or taking them as it causes extra time for the construction workers to remeasure and replace them and the city money. |
ONTARIO—Ontario police are asking people who live along North Oregon Street near the road construction to continue to report any activity that may be connected to the theft or removal of survey stakes used by the construction company.
Ontario Police Department Capt. Mark Alexander said the city has had a problem with people who police assume are children removing the survey markers and either taking them or leaving them. He said Ontario Public Works Director Chuck Mickelson told police, if the stakes get removed, construction workers have to set the markers back up again, which causes a lot of wasted time and increased cost for the city on the project.
He said police have already left notes on doors explaining the problem and asking the community for help, telling them if they see anybody tampering with the stakes to notify police. OPD received one phone call already, which turned out to be a false alarm, but, Alexander said, residents should remain vigilant.
“We really need people not to be messing with those things,” he said.
He said anybody caught taking or tampering with the stakes could be issued a citation or arrested.
“That property belongs to somebody else, so taking them is a theft, and causing that damage, causing that inconvenience, is going to be criminal mischief,” he said.
Alexander also warned residents of another telephone scam that concerned him.
He said he heard of it from the Nampa Police Department this week. Alexander said the latest scam is from people reporting to be from the security department of your credit card company claiming to inquire about a suspicious charge they say was made.
“They are then asking if you made that transaction, and, of course, you’re going to say no,” Alexander said.
He said the people already know the intended victim’s credit card company and credit card number when they call.
“They’re going through a spiel that sounds pretty legitimate,” Alexander said. The only problem with the call is the people will ask for a person’s three-digit security number on the back of the credit card, which they should already have if they were really calling from the credit card company. Alexander said people who receive a similar phone call should tell the person they will call their credit card company and confirm this.
He warns people not to use any phone number they give should they offer.
At the same time, Alexander said not to ask the person for the number to call.
“You should have that number in your credit card records,” he said.
Alexander said he heard about this scam after one of the Nampa PD employees evidently received a phone call like this, and Alexander said it concerned him because a large part of the call sounded believable.
He said no calls in Ontario have been reported, but it is something to watch out for.
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Not a betting man wrote on Sep 27, 2009 4:11 AM:
The state of North Oregon would be resolved a lot faster if workers make a more valiant effort to tackle it and perhaps bother to put more manpower into the project.
I can understand the time it would take to finish Interstate 84 for a few miles but we are only referring to 9-10 blocks of city roads. Certainly this does not require our area to resemble Beirut for at least three months.
I believe that this would proceed in a more timely fashion if a 'business zone' like S. Oregon or SW 4th Ave were involved. To be frank with our city officials, N. Oregon is probably a much more important road than either of those in that it feeds a quarter of the residences in town with traffic, the recent bypass route and exit traffic to Interstate 84 and Highway 201 to to the Idaho 95 corridor. By design it has become one of the most important roads in the city.
Perhaps you don't believe business traffic is affected. Maybe not so badly, however the detour traffic does take it's toll from time to time on local neighborhood residents. Opening the intersection of Oregon and Idaho again was helpful but it will be wonderful when the 'ditches' are roadways once again. If you were to ask the neighbors might not mind extended work hours, say until 8 pm and better coordination.
Longer work days, shorter project time and less opportunities for stake thieves, perhaps?
You can't blame everything on gangsters. "