There’s more to the story about a pickup truck fleeing police in the Promontory area of Chilliwack early Wednesday morning.
In his haste to escape, the driver of the pickup crashed into a BC Hydro transformer box, knocking out power to more than 1,400 customers in the area, tore up residents’ lawns and punched a huge hole in a house in the 5400-block Teskey Road.
Chilliwack RCMP now say they have confirmed the white 2005 Ford F350 pickup was indeed reported stolen in Clinton, B.C., and that a 32-year-old Langley man arrested as he walked away from the area “has been linked” to the stolen vehicle.
Police are still looking for a second man involved in the incident, which began with a report of “suspicious activity” by two men in the 5000-block Teskey Road and Bridleridge Drive at about 3:30 a.m.
The pair was seen backing up a pickup truck toward a trailer parked in the rear of a residence.
But for some reason, the pair suddenly split up, one leaving the area in the pickup and the other leaving on foot – without the trailer.
After the call to police, an RCMP officer spotted the white pickup and pulled the driver over on Sylvan Drive.
But as the officer got out of his cruiser, the driver suddenly gunned the pickup and took off “at a high rate of speed,” RCMP Cpl. Tammy Hollingsworth said.
The next time police saw the pickup it had crashed into Brendan Kurtz’s house, coming to rest in his back yard.
“In the middle of the night, we heard a huge bang,” Kurtz said about the crash. “I looked out my back window and saw a Ford F350 diesel truck sitting in my back yard.”
He said the truck apparently careened off the side of one house, punched a 4’X10′ hole in his basement wall, and came to rest at a “peculiar” angle in his back yard.
Kurtz was remarkably calm about the whole episode, saying he was just grateful no one was injured.
Hollingsworth agreed, adding that the RCMP investigation continues and “will hopefully lead us to the other man responsible.”
Anyone with information is asked to call the Chilliwack RCMP at 604-792-4611 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
