A Liverpool man is accused of impersonating an RCMP officer. (RCMP)

A Queens County man has been charged with several offences, including stealing a dump truck and impersonating a police officer.

Christopher Allan MacLeod, 43, of Liverpool was charged after incidents on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

RCMP say that on Dec. 26 at about 9:20 p.m., a man approached an RCMP officer outside the Cookville RCMP detachment in Bridgewater and said he was an RCMP sergeant who had just been transferred from another province.

He drove to the detachment in a black Dodge Ram and was dressed in civilian clothes, according to an RCMP news release. He said he didn’t have any RCMP identification.

The officer confirmed that the man was not a fellow officer and arrested him.

Lunenburg District RCMP charged MacLeod with impersonating a peace officer and breach of a recognizance. He appeared in Bridgewater provincial court on Dec. 29 and was released on conditions.

On Jan. 1, at 11:45 a.m., Queens District RCMP got a call about a stolen dump truck from a garage on Devonshire Road in West Caledonia.

While officers were on their way to the scene, they saw the vehicle on Highway 3 in Liverpool.

They stopped the truck and safely arrested the driver, whom police identified as MacLeod. They allege that MacLeod entered the garage on Dec. 31 and stayed overnight before taking the truck.

Queens District RCMP have charged MacLeod with break and enter with intent, theft of a motor vehicle, possession of property obtained by crime and two counts of failing to comply with an order.

MacLeod appeared in Bridgewater provincial court on those charges on Jan. 2 and was remanded into custody. He appeared again on Jan. 7 and was ordered back to jail until his next appearance on Feb. 4.

RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Carlie McCann asked people to contact police or Crime Stoppers if they have any information about either incident.

“At this point I don’t anticipate there being further charges related to either of these two files, but we will continue to investigate if new information is learned.”

MacLeod is listed in Nova Scotia property records as the co-owner, with Charles King, of 27 West Berlin Wharf Rd. in West Berlin. A house, truck and several outbuildings were destroyed in a fire there on Dec. 22. RCMP said at the time that one man was arrested at the scene but later released and not charged in the fire. They have not said what caused the blaze, but said they had reports of fireworks before it began.

RCMP say that anybody worried about the identity of a police officer should ask the officer for identification or contact their local detachment’s non-emergency line. In an emergency, call 911.

“Nova Scotia RCMP regularly reinforces with all of our officers the importance of self-identification,” McCann said.

“If you are in a situation where you suspect that someone might be using or planning to use real or replica police equipment or if you’re in a situation where something is concerning or seems off, please don’t hesitate to call local police or if you believe you may be in immediate danger, call 911.

“In a situation like a traffic stop, you can ask to see an officer’s badge and ID card and that will have their regimental number and the ID card will have a photo. We always want Nova Scotians to be aware of suspicious behaviour, and don’t hesitate to reach out to police to report it.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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(File photo via RCMP NS Facebook page)

UPDATED TUESDAY, OCT. 21, 2 p.m.

Two children have died after a boat they were in overturned in the West Caledonia area late Saturday afternoon.

RCMP, EHS, fire services and the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre responded to a 911 call of a boater in distress in Lake Rossignol just before 5 p.m.

A 45-year-old man and three children from Fall River were in a flat-bottom canoe with a motor when it capsized.

Emergency personnel reached them just before 6:30 p.m., RCMP said, when they were rushed to hospital in a search and rescue helicopter.

The man and one child survived their injuries. The other two children died, RCMP said.

The children were “10 or younger”, RCMP spokeswoman Const. Mandy Edwards said in an interview. Edwards said they’re not releasing any more specifics about the children’s ages.

“There were many challenges involved with the rescue,” she said. “The recent drought levels, the lake was quite low so there were a lot of rocks exposed as well as just trying to locate exactly where in the lake the group was for the rescue efforts. And darkness was falling. This time of year, the evening comes pretty quick.”

Edwards said the man and the children had been using the boat’s motor when it stopped working.

“The weather had changed. The motor stopped working and then they took on water. So they were trying to bail themselves out, but unfortunately, that’s when the boat overturned and that’s when they called 911.”

Edwards said the man tried CPR on the children.

“The man had performed life-saving measures such as CPR and he was attempting CPR when they were recovered. So they were all transported to hospital and it wasn’t until they arrived in hospital when they were pronounced deceased.”

Queens District RCMP are investigating, though Edwards said police don’t suspect foul play at this point.

“They would just be looking to obtain all the information involved, so that could include statements, recovery of the boat involved, just to paint that final picture of what exactly happened and put all the pieces together.”

In a Facebook post, North Queens Fire Chief Chris Wolfe thanked emergency personnel for their quick response.

“The low water and darkness brought us challenges but we managed to do what we set out to do,” he said.

“We also want to send out our condolences to the families affected by this awful tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Chris Wolfe, chief of the North Queens Fire Association, speaks at a public meeting on Monday evening. (Rick Conrad)

When Mya Uhlman’s father needed medical help last August, her mother called 911 and expected her local fire department to respond.

They were still waiting 20 minutes later, so Uhlman’s mother called again. The 911 dispatcher told her the North Queens Fire Department was on its way. Uhlman’s parents live less than 10 minutes from the fire hall in West Caledonia.

“And they never, ever showed up,” Uhlman told QCCR. “She ended up calling a relative that lived close by to be with her because she was by herself.  … So when I inquired about it, I was told (North Queens) were never paged.

“The ambulance did arrive eventually. It was around 40 minutes before the ambulance did arrive. My father is OK, but it was serious at the time. 

“When my mother explicity asked for the North Queens Fire Department, they should have automatically been dispatched with no questions asked.”

Uhlman’s story and others were why Chief Chris Wolfe called a public meeting at the North Queens fire hall in Caledonia on Monday night.

About 100 residents, firefighters and other first responders from as far away as Yarmouth met to air their concerns about their local fire departments not being called to medical emergencies.

Chief Wolfe sounded the alarm on Facebook in February after another resident called 911 and the dispatcher didn’t notify Wolfe’s department. Instead, that person was still waiting for an ambulance when Wolfe’s deputy chief found out about it and had 911 page the fire department.

Volunteer firefighters around Nova Scotia take medical first responder training. The type of call they can respond to depends on the level their department signs up for. North Queens has 18 people trained to respond to almost any level of medical call.

Wolfe said that 111 of 198 of their calls last year were medical emergencies.

“My mandate is not to give up until we find a solution to this problem of not being paged for certain calls within our communities, because North Queens residents depend on us.”

He contacted Queens MLA Kim Masland to help organize the meeting with officials from the Department of Health and Wellness, Emergency Health Services, and Emergency Medical Care, which has the contract to operate ambulance and 911 service in Nova Scotia.

Masland, who is also the minister of emergency management, told those at the meeting to be frank with their concerns. And she also told people to continue to contact her and other MLAs. 

“I want to make sure that we land where we need to land because what has been happening is not acceptable.”

Representatives from EHS and Emergency Medical Care explained how the system works and the challenges in deploying the right resources in a timely way.

But people like Mya Uhlman wanted to know why their local fire departments wouldn’t be told about a call, especially if the person in distress requested it. A first responder with North Queens also demanded to know why dispatchers would deny that request.

Before officials could answer his question, first responders from the Liverpool, Pubnico and Woods Harbour fire departments also spoke up and said the same thing is happening in their areas.

Jeff Fraser, senior executive director of the emergency health services branch with Nova Scotia’s Department of Health and Wellness, said dispatchers have to follow certain models.

“I’m not so sure we should be denying that. I actually didn’t realize that was happening in that manner.”

Gordon Peckham, who is the vice-president of operations with EMC, said he didn’t know why that’s happening, but that it shouldn’t.

After the meeting, Uhlman said she hopes officials change how and when they notify local fire departments.

“In a way it made me feel a little better to know it wasn’t only us. But at the same time, it really made me feel awful  that this is happening in so many places and so many particularly rural community members are not getting the services they need in a timely fashion.”

Masland said she believes some progress was made at the meeting.

“There were things that were said here tonight that I could see they were raising the eyebrows of people here from EHS. And I think it’s important whenever you have communication that’s when you can start to resolve issues, and that’s what we’re gonna do.”

Chief Wolfe told QCCR that provincial officials promised to work on some of the issues raised and return in six to eight weeks for another public meeting. 

“The community did well supporting us, showing up. They voiced their concerns. Most of the concerns voiced we were aware of. I’m hoping that EMC will take it seriously and we’ll get things resolved.

“You could see the reactions with some of the public talking there that there were things going on that they weren’t even aware of. And I believe that within the next day or two, they’ll be taking those things into consideration and addressing them right away.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

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