Pubdate: Sat, 17 Jun 2006
Source: Woolwich Observer (CN ON)
Section: Pg 4
Copyright: 2006 Woolwich Observer
Contact:  http://www.woolwichobserver.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1867
Author: Desiree Finhert

ELMIRA-AREA FAMILY RECEIVES POLICE AWARD

Spotting marijuana in their field and aiding in the arrest of the 
suspects netted an Elmira-area farm family citations from the 
Waterloo Regional Police Services.

More than a year ago, Randy Martin and his daughter Jessica Lynn 
stopped two men from planting marijuana in their cornfield.

They were honoured for their conduct at the Citizen Citation Awards 
at a recent banquet.

Martin's wife said her husband was shy about receiving the award but 
soon warmed to the idea of being honoured for his heroism.

"It felt good to be at the banquet," said Bonnie Martin. "They had 
about 13 awards that night to other people who had helped police 
officers. It felt good to be part of that, to help out the police 
officers to make this a better community to live in."

Martin and his daughter's citations were earned when two men were 
discovered in their cornfield last June.

When the men ran off, Martin discovered they had left behind a cooler 
filled with marijuana plants.

The family immediately called their neighbours, police officers who 
were off-duty at the time.

Sgt. Mike Hinsperger, who was a constable at the time, confirmed 
there were 36 marijuana plants in the cooler, which would have 
fetched a street value of $36,000 upon maturity.

After the cornfield was searched, Hinsperger joined Martin and his 
two children in their truck to search the area.

Martin spotted the two men sitting on a lawn outside an Arthur Street 
residence. When he slowed the truck outside the house the two men 
ran, enticing Hinsperger and his neighbour to chase after them.

Hinsperger nabbed one of them 150 metres off the back field nearing 
the highway. While one was caught the other fled on foot. A canine 
unit tracked the area for two hours looking for the second man who 
was eventually identified in a suspect lineup.

"Randy took the initiative to call [police] for starters," said 
Hinsperger. "A lot of people wouldn't even do that. But once we were 
called, he took an active role in trying to apprehend them. Not only 
did he drive the truck searching for these guys, but he also chased 
on foot and assisted with arresting these guys. It could have been a 
dangerous situation if both these guys had decided to turn on me."

Upon capturing the first suspect, Hinsperger found himself in an 
awkward position. Since he had been off duty at the time of the 
incident he didn't have police tools with him.

"The lady living at the house, she wanted to find something to bind 
him with, since I obviously didn't have any equipment with me," he 
explained. "So she found a ball of bailer twine. He was bound with 
that. When the police officer arrived he took the twine off and 
placed the handcuffs on him."

Back at the Martin farm, Bonnie had called the police when the men 
first took chase. Until they arrived Hinsperger relied on Jessica 
Lynn Martin to document the situation.

"Jess was inquiring what she could do to help as opposed to a lot of 
people who would simply stand back."

A Grade 8 student at the time, Jessica Lynn had been sitting in the 
truck's backseat with her younger brother until the suspect was 
apprehended. She took note of Hinsperger reading the suspect his 
rights to counsel and the criminal caution. She took down his name 
and recorded what the suspect said until on-duty police arrived.
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