Written by Frank Peebles
Citizen staff
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Monday, 06 July 2009 |
A police pursuit Friday ended in a crash and a fight with police and the suspected driver.
RCMP Insp. Chris Bomford said the Prince George detachment was first called at about 3:07 p.m. by a local business that a customer had made threatening remarks, did mischief to their property and took off aggressively in a white pickup. A license number was obtained and police units were put on alert.
"Police were able to locate the vehicle very quickly," said Bomford. "The first member to engage the suspect driver observed him on Lansdowne Road, striking the curb and blowing a stop sign. He carried on along Ferry Avenue, then Highway 16 West. He was passing a number of vehicles on the shoulder of the road in the vicinity of Range Road. He was driving at a very high rate of speed and was running stop signals. We had a number of members involved in trying to stop him, it was a highly dangerous situation for the public at large."
The RCMP has a policy of not pursuing at high speeds due to safety concerns. However, this situation posed a dilemma, said Bomford.
"You are kind of caught between a rock and a hard place. There is always the concern for the public at the forefront of the decision-making. You have to judge. If you don't pursue, he is already driving with that kind of behaviour, and he will probably continue to drive like that, so do you intervene to protect the public? But our policy of not pursuing at high speeds is out of concern for the public's safety as well, in the hopes the driver calms down and we can locate the driver later."
The multiple members following in police vehicles opted to back off and let the white pickup carry on. They were at the Domano Boulevard intersection by then, heading west.
"The vehicle was lost and later located," Bomford said. "It was crashed into the ditch just off Blackwater Road. A police dog and handler were called in and were able to track the male driver down and he was arrested. He fought with police when the dog located him, but he was subdued and taken into custody."
The arrest was made about half an hour after the members backed off the high speed chase. Charges are pending.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 06 July 2009 )
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