#37: GOT A LIGHT? 🚬

🚬 SMOKING - Guelph woman arrested after slapping two others for not having cigarette lighters

🚗 DRIVING - Toronto driver charged for displaying fake license plate bearing N-word

❄️ DRUGS - Kelowna driver says he was “only smoking marijuana” after passing police with crack pipe in his mouth

Good morning. 

How do you react when a stranger—especially a menacing one—asks you for a light?

Do you acknowledge or ignore? Lie or tell the truth? Question motives? Become suspicious?

This is a good test of character, both for yourself and the stranger. But the onus of civility rests mostly upon the stranger, who is both beggar and ambusher.

The real test is this: how will the stranger react if you say you don’t have a light?

Will he accept your answer and move along? Or will he accuse you of lying?

Most importantly, will he strike you?

A Guelph woman failed this test two days ago. More on that below.

Enjoy.

-Peter

⌛️ Today’s read is 3 minutes long.

A Guelph woman is facing charges after allegedly slapping two women for not having cigarette lighters. 

The 38-year-old woman was inside a store on the north end of town around 10 AM Wednesday when she reportedly began “screaming and being confrontational with staff and customers.”

She then left the store and approached a man and a woman nearby, asking for a light.

“When the woman said she didn’t have a lighter, she was slapped in the face,” police said. “She did not require medical attention.”

The woman went looking elsewhere. She approached another woman and again asked for a light. When she also said she didn’t have a lighter, the woman allegedly slapped her phone out of her hand.

Police arrived shortly after and arrested the woman. She is charged with two counts of assault and causing a disturbance. 

Police held her for a bail hearing next Monday.

A Toronto driver was pulled over this week for driving around with a fake license plate displaying a racial slur.

Peel Regional Police identified the driver (whom they did not name) after seeing his car on video surveillance footage.

“Fake Plates. Real Consequences,” Peel Police said.

“Hate in any form causes real harm and is unacceptable in our community,” said police. “Anyone who witnesses or experiences a hate-motivated incident or crime is encouraged to report it.”

The man was charged under the Highway Traffic Act.

Peel Police did not specify whether their new Hate Crime Unit (which was established just three months ago) will be investigating the incident.

A Kelowna man told police he was “only smoking marijuana” last Tuesday morning after driving past an unmarked RCMP cruiser with an alleged crack pipe hanging out of his mouth. 

Police say the 56-year-old man (whom they did not name) “appeared to have a glass pipe in his mouth” when he passed the cruiser at around 10:30 AM on Jan. 6.

“When the man was pulled over, he claimed he was ‘only’ smoking marijuana,” said Corporal Michael McLaughlin with BC Highway Patrol. “Perhaps he didn’t realize it’s illegal to be impaired by any drugs while driving—including cannabis.”

The man also told police he’d smoked crack “earlier” that day.

Police arrested him and searched his vehicle. Inside, they found a butane lighter and a glass pipe that police said is “typically used to smoke crack cocaine with two hands.” 

Police added there was “no evidence of marijuana” in the car.

Police took the man to a hospital and demanded a blood sample from him after he performed poorly on a sobriety test. 

The man’s vehicle was impounded and he received a 24-hour driving suspension plus a ticket for failing to produce a driver’s licence. 

However, the RCMP have not yet laid charges against him.

“Criminal charges will be considered pending laboratory results and further investigation,” they said.