A Guelph man is in critical condition in a Hamilton hospital after a fight downtown over the weekend.
Police say the fight happened between two men just after midnight on Sept. 3. A 27-year-old Guelph man sustained serious head injuries and was taken to Guelph General Hospital before being transferred to Hamilton, where he underwent emergency surgery, a news release said.
Police investigation resulted in the arrest of a 26-year-old Guelph man for aggravated assault, it said.
Given the recent influx of university students and their increased presence in the downtown area, police made a point of noting that neither man involved in this incident is a student at the university.
Assault by biting
A man has been charged with assault after a biting incident at a downtown nightclub Wednesday.
Police were called to the Carden Street club at 1:25 a.m. for a disturbance that happened when an intoxicated man was denied entry to the club. He became enraged and grabbed the doorman by the nose. A struggle followed and the man bit the doorman on the arm, a news release said. A 22-year-old Guelph man was arrested at the scene.
Crowds gather
Police had to break up two downtown fights that created significant crowds and happened within minutes of each other in the early hours of Saturday morning. The first dust-up, between two men, attracted a crowd of about 50 people to watch the altercation in front of a restaurant on Macdonell Street at 2:20 a.m.
The two men were separated by police and arrested. A 25-year-old Edmonton man and a 25-year-old Guelph man were both charged with causing a disturbance by fighting.
The second fight, just 10 minutes later, involved two women on Carden Street.
The women were yelling and arguing, and as a result a crown of about 30 people formed in the area, a news release said.
Police on foot and bicycle patrol in the area were told by citizens that the women were about to start fighting. As police arrived on the scene, the women began punching each other and pulling each other’s hair, it said.
A 22-year-old Guelph woman and a 23-year-old Fergus woman were charged with causing a disturbance by fighting.
Blitz on Niska
Police issued 30 speeding tickets over six hours Sunday near Niska Road’s single-lane Bailey Bridge.
Police monitored traffic near the bridge at various times of the day as part of an ongoing targeted speed-enforcement initiative.
The area is frequented by pedestrians and cyclists, and there is also a parking area for a trailhead just west of the bridge. It’s posted at 50 kilometres an hour, but drivers also face a speed advisory sign of 20 km/h for the bridge, a news release said.
The majority of the drivers charged Sunday were stopped as they were heading west toward the bridge, but three drivers were stopped for speeding as they crossed east over the single-lane wood structure, it said. One driver was also charged with a seatbelt offence.
Police plan to continue monitoring speed in the area on a regular basis.
Jumbo RIDE 
The “Biggest RIDE Ever” was a big success for local OPP. On Aug. 30, the Wellington County OPP brought together 16 officers, four auxiliary officers, 10 cruisers and four OPP motorcycles to a RIDE checkpoint on Highway 6, which it touted as its “Biggest RIDE Ever.”
Between 8 p.m. and 1:30 a.m., officers stopped more than 3,500 vehicles at the RIDE program, which was located just south of Fergus, but fewer than 20 charges were laid and only one was an impaired driving charge.
Police seized one vehicle and suspended the driver; charged one driver with impaired driving; issued 14 tickets for plate, seatbelt or vehicle standard violations; issued one Liquor Licence Act charge for open liquor in a vehicle; and made one drug arrest for marijuana, a news release said.
Police tested 11 more drivers who had consumed alcohol, but breath samples came in at less than 50 milligrams, it said.
The goal of the initiative was to increase police visibility leading into the long weekend. This year, Wellington County has seen an increase in fatal collisions involving alcohol, and drinking drivers are responsible for one-quarter of all people killed on Ontario roads, it said.
Smaller RIDE 
A RIDE program in the city on Friday night resulted in two driver’s licence suspensions for local drivers.
Guelph Police stopped 280 vehicles in a two-hour period at a RIDE checkpoint at the corner of Gordon and Wellington streets. Five drivers were given breath tests, and two of them – a 60-year-old Guelph man and a 30-year-old Guelph man – were found to have blood-alcohol levels between 50 and 100 milligrams, a news release said. Each had his licence suspended for seven days.
Fake gun scare
A woman with an unusual lighter caused a gun scare at a downtown bank Friday.
Police were called to the downtown Bank of Montreal branch just after noon to respond to a report of a woman with a gun. They arrived to find an intoxicated woman with a replica handgun lighter in a holster on her belt, a news release said. The woman was arrested without incident, it said.
A 51-year-old woman faces charges of dangerous weapons and public intoxication.
Cyclist hit
Police are looking for a driver who hit a cyclist Saturday morning, then drove away without checking to see whether he was OK.
The 57-year-old man was riding his bike south on Elmira Road South at 8:45 a.m. when a van turned right from Worton Avenue onto Elmira Road. As the van rolled through the stop sign, the cyclist hit the left side of the van, a news release said.
The van kept going, stopping briefly before driving away without checking on the cyclist.
The vehicle is described as an older-style beige or brown passenger van, and it may have damage on the driver’s side door. The driver is described as a female in her 30s with blonde hair in a ponytail.