A scary incident played out in Kamloops Wednesday, featuring a stolen pickup truck being driven erratically at estimated speeds of more than 100 kilometres per hour — with the owner clinging to the back and swinging a chain at the driver.
The truck, with two people in the cab, eventually crashed into a field off Clarke Road north of Westsyde, where the vehicle burst into flames. The two people inside the truck were taken to Royal Inland Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, while the vehicle’s owner in the bed of the truck was miraculously unhurt.
The wild ride was witnessed by dozens of people, with many posting photos and video on social media channels.
Kamloops RCMP Cpl. Jodi Shelkie said police were called at 12:45 p.m. to investigate reports of a truck driving dangerously northbound on Westsyde Road, with a man in the flatbed of the vehicle.
Shelkie said police learned the vehicle had been stolen in Kamloops on Oct. 11.
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“It appears that a friend of the truck’s owner saw the stolen vehicle when he was driving on the Halston Connector,” Shelkie said. “The friend contacted the owner and followed the truck, updating the owner as to its location. The truck stopped in a residential area of Brocklehurst long enough for the owner to attend. When the owner approached the vehicle, the suspects started to drive away, so the owner jumped on the back of the flatbed pick-up.”
The driver of the stolen truck then raced down Parkcrest Avenue, where it hit a power pole, before going down Singh Street and Ord Road before making its way onto Westsyde Road, with the owner still clinging onto the back of vehicle.
Shelkie said reports from witnesses indicate the truck was driving into oncoming traffic, running red lights and, at times, exceeding 100 kilomtres per hour on Westsyde Road.
“It also struck three other moving vehicles,” Shelkie said. “Luckily, there were no injuries to any of the occupants in these vehicles.”
She said officers rushed down Westsyde Road and came across the scene of the truck ablaze in a field. The truck had left Westsyde Road, crashed through a fence and ended up in a field, where it then burst into flames.
Shelkie said officers tried to douse the fire with extinguishers, but were not successful as the vehicle was engulfed.
“We are very thankful that there were no serious injuries to anyone involved in this situation,” Shelkie said. “We suggest that the public contacts the police if they witness a stolen vehicle being driven. Luckily, the owner was not injured, but it could have been a very different outcome.”
The Crown will determine whether charges will be laid.
