Three people are in custody after a series of carjackings and police pursuits in the southeastern corner of B.C., yesterday.
It started early Thursday morning after RCMP received a report that a truck had been stolen from a property in Hosmer, just north of Fernie. The individual who made the report witnessed a stranger driving his white Chevy pickup truck, accompanied by another individual in a darker Ford pickup.
When police located and attempted to stop the Ford, it accelerated toward the police cars, narrowly missing the officers.
Later that day, police located a suspicious white Ford pickup, and deemed it to be stolen. When the driver was informed he was under arrest he fled the scene, narrowly missing another RCMP officer who attempted to intercept him.
Heading for the Alberta border, the white Ford was intercepted by both Elk Valley RCMP and Crowsnest Pass RCMP. Police located the white Ford, disabled, and observed a male and female fleeing the scene while attempting to carjack surrounding vehicles. Both individuals were quickly arrested.
Police were made aware of a third male suspect, but by the time they tracked him down, he had already stolen another vehicle and was heading southwest towards Cranbrook.
RCMP pursued the subject until he abandoned the stolen vehicle, carjacked another vehicle and continued toward Jaffray where he attempted to steal yet another vehicle. He was taken into custody with the help of a Police Service Dog.
All three individuals face many criminal code charges.
Elk Valley RCMP Detachment Commander Sgt. Jeff Harrold extended his thanks to the community, whom he credited as being instrumental in reporting vehicle locations. He also thanked the many groups who helped get the situation under control.
“This is an outstanding example of a coordinated response by RCMP from across the entire southeastern part of B.C. and Alberta, to work together towards a successful resolution in what can only be described as (an) unbelievable series of events,” said Harrold.
Anyone who witnessed these events is asked to contact the Elk Valley RCMP at 250-425-6233. The investigation is ongoing.
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