All he had to do was pull over for the RCMP officer and the driver would have been looking at one charge.
Instead, after refusing to stop for police, the suspect now faces a myriad of charges stemming from an incident Monday afternoon.
An officer was travelling northbound on 27th Street in a marked police vehicle at around 1 p.m. when he pulled up to the stoplight at 32nd Avenue.
“The officer noticed a white Chevy Cavalier pull up beside him in the outside lane, and noticed the driver had his cell phone to his left ear,” said RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk.
When the light turned green, the officer maneuvered in behind the Cavalier and two other vehicles, and saw the suspect turn right on 39th Avenue and head eastbound.
The officer activated his emergency lights as the vehicles approached Pleasant Valley Road.
“To our officer’s surprise, rather than stop the driver accelerated, blew past three cars that were stopped at the stop sign and made a hard left turn,” said Molendyk.
The officer went through the intersection and noticed a pickup truck from Alberta stopped in the road.
The truck had been hit by the suspect vehicle.
The officer obtained the licence plate number of the Cavalier prior to shutting down the attempt to the stop the vehicle near 43rd Avenue and Pleasant Valley Road.
“Our officer then kept travelling in the direction of the owner’s residence, and, while en route, was advised by pedestrians that the suspect driver was going westbound up 30th Avenue,” said Molendyk.
The registered owner of the vehicle lives on Middleton Mountain.
When officers attended the residence, they saw a man attempting to take the licence plates off the rear of the suspect vehicle.
“Our officers advised the man he was under arrest,” said Molendyk.
“The suspect ran into the residence and out the back door. They chased him on foot and he was finally taken into custody in the 600 block of Browne Road after he climbed under a vehicle.”
The 25-year-old suspect has been released on a promise to appear with a court date of June 6.
He is expected to face numerous Motor Vehicle Act charges.
