A 33-year-old is facing five charges after police pursued an alleged stolen truck from Mission to Vancouver to Hope.
According to a Mission RCMP news release, Kelly Dean is charged with assaulting a peace officer, dangerous operation of a conveyance, failure to stop for police, theft over $5,000, and driving while prohibited.
Mission RCMP started surveillance of a Ford F350 truck on May 13 that was reported stolen from Coquitlam in April. During an attempted traffic stop the night prior, the truck failed to obey.
Police say the truck was travelling on Lougheed Highway from Mission to Maple Ridge before another traffic stop was attempted after the driver turned down a dead-end street in Maple Ridge.
The driver allegedly accelerated through yards and lawns of residential homes before police chose to give the vehicle space due to “dangerous and erratic driving behavior.” To follow the vehicle, the RCMP made use of a helicopter.
The truck was tracked through the air as it fled through Maple Ridge, Surrey, Coquitlam, Burnaby, Vancouver and Hope. RCMP say the truck collided with a surveillance vehicle in an attempt to evade police near Hunter Creek Road in Hope.
The driver fled into a pipeline tunnel under construction where an Abbotsford Police Department officer struck the suspect with bean bag rounds. Dean was subsequently arrested and remains in custody while awaiting a court appearance.
“The coordinated effort from several different local police agencies provided seamless continuity of the suspect vehicle reducing the risk to the public,” Cpl. Jason Boon of the Mission RCMP said in a news release. “We would like to express our thanks to those agencies for their assistance in eventually making the arrest.”
Mission RCMP encourages those with information or dashcam footage to contact the detachment at (604) 826-7161.
READ MORE: Man ‘seriously injured’ in alleged Mission stabbing
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