The strange tale of a woman who claimed she was stabbed, stole an SUV, evaded police in a highway pursuit and who was eventually nabbed after she crashed the SUV in a rollover ended in Central Saanich on Thursday afternoon.
The series of events began at about 1:45 p.m. on Thursday when a woman entered the Crystal Pool in Victoria and said that she had been stabbed, said Saanich Police Sgt. Julie Fast.
“Without waiting for emergency services to arrive, the woman left and walked up Quadra Street into Saanich where she broke into a house on Holmes Street and stole a set of car keys for the homeowner’s Honda CRV. The homeowner, who was in the house at the time, heard her CRV being unlocked and saw the woman inside it. The homeowner ran outside and confronted the woman, but was not able to prevent her from reversing out of the driveway and driving off onto Quadra Street.”
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Saanich Police responded to the 911 call and spotted the stolen CRV northbound on the Pat Bay Highway.
Officers attempted to stop the vehicle by the weigh scale but when the woman refused and ran the red light at Sayward Road the officers pulled off, having determined it was not safe to pursue her, Fast said.
A few minutes later, Central Saanich Police responded to a rollover crash in the 7200-block of the Pat Bay Highway. It turned out to be the stolen CRV, that had gone off the highway to the right. After crashing the CRV, the woman flagged down a passing motorist and asked to be taken to the Saanich Peninsula Hospital.
However, instead of going into the hospital she walked off and attempted to flag over another vehicle not far away. Central Saanich Police soon located the woman running along Bourne Terrace where she was apprehended.
The woman, a 29-year-old with no fixed address, was assessed for injuries at the hospital and then released back into police custody with only minor injuries and no evidence of a stab wound.
“She is now facing several charges including break and enter, theft, dangerous operation of a vehicle and flight from police,” Fast said.
The woman is in police custody as of Friday morning with a court appearance set for later in the day.
