Police in Nanaimo are continuing to investigate an incident from Friday when a man suspected of dealing drugs managed to escape an arrest attempt by ramming a police vehicle.
The incident began to unfold at about 4 p.m. when officers saw what appeared to be a drug transaction being made from a vehicle.
“As they moved in on the vehicle, it took off. They lost sight of it, but it was located a few minutes later in a driveway in the 900 block of Howard Avenue,” said Const. Gary O’Brien, Nanaimo RCMP spokesman.
Officers blocked the driveway to prevent the vehicle from escaping, but the person driving it was not ready to co-operate with police and he “rammed into the police car and he rammed his way out of the driveway,” O’Brien said.
The suspect managed to speed away around the house and drove down a 10-foot embankment. Officers gave chase on foot and tried to extract the driver from the vehicle, but were unsuccessful and the car sped off. The vehicle was found a few minutes later in an alley near Fifth Street and Winchester Avenue. Police Dog Services were brought in and police set up a containment perimeter around the area, but the driver was not found.
“The vehicle was not reported stolen at the time,” O’Brien said. “There was very limited description of the driver. Because of the clothing it was hard to determine what the person looked like.”
The registered owner of the vehicle was not the person driving the car.
The police vehicle that was rammed suffered modest damage and no officers were injured, O’Brien said, but due to the driving displayed by the suspect, it is possible he was injured.
“We are naturally concerned for his well-being and are asking the public to assist in identifying him and to get him to turn himself in,” O’Brien said.
Anyone with information about this incident or the suspect is asked to call the Nanaimo RCMP non-emergency line at 250-754-2345 and quote file No. 2020-38776.
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