A police chase that began in Calgary ended with three arrests and a grass fire near Vulcan last week.
At around 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 11, the Calgary Police Service notified Okotoks RCMP that a stolen Ford F-350 truck was seen heading south out of the city.
“The vehicle was actually a stolen vehicle from Lacombe,” said RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Curtis Peters. “It had been stolen from there the day prior, and then Calgary Police initially encountered the vehicle in Calgary and then it continued south down into the RCMP areas of Okotoks, High River and Vulcan.”
The truck was followed out of the city by HAWCS helicopter, and officers from Okotoks and High River RCMP detachments were able to locate the vehicle on Highway 2. A spike belt was deployed just north of High River, which deflated two of the truck’s tires.
When the truck turned off Highway 2 at the High River overpass, two passengers jumped from the vehicle and attempted to hide from police. HAWCS helicopter helped RCMP track down the suspects and they were arrested without incident.
The driver of the truck continued east on Highway 23 and a second spike belt was laid out south of Vulcan, which deflated the remaining two tires. The truck continued southbound with sparks flying from its rims, which ignited a grass fire in the ditch along Highway 23 near the village of Champion.
The Champion volunteer fire department was able to extinguish the fire quickly.
“The fire wasn’t too bad as I understand,” said Peters. “It was a grass fire in the ditch as a result of the hot metal coming off the truck and the fire department was able to put it out in fairly short order.”
Eventually, the stolen vehicle caught fire and was unable to continue driving on bare rims.
The driver of the truck, a 35-year-old male from Calgary, was arrested without incident. He was found to be on statutory release and has been returned to the custody of Correctional Services Canada with charges of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, possession of stolen property and flight from police are pending.
The 26-year-old female and 25-year-old male passengers who jumped out of the truck face charges of possession of stolen property over $5,000. They have both been released from custody and are scheduled to appear in Okotoks Provincial Court on Sept. 8.
No names have been released, as charges were not sworn before Western Wheel press time.
“The guys that got released on a recognizance, that’s usually a week of two before we get charges laid on that,” said Peters. “The other fellow, because he was on statutory release, he went back to federal incarceration so that one again is going to take a couple of weeks for the new charges to be laid.”
RCMP are asking anyone who may have information regarding this incident to contact the High River RCMP detachment at 403-652-2357. Anonymous tips can be provided to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS(8477), or online at www.tipsubmit.com.
