Demolition-derby style escape foiled
Playing bumper cars with police cruisers Saturday night landed a suspected Surrey auto thief in a Maple Ridge jail.
Supt. Dave Walsh, Ridge Meadows top cop
Photograph by: TIMES , TIMES files
Not once but twice a suspected automobile thief apparently smashed into police cars on Saturday night, leaving a few cruisers damaged, a stolen van flipped on its side, a Mountie’s gun discharged, and a 31-year-old Surrey man in lockup for the weekend.
It was like a version of demolition derby in Yennadon just before midnight last night, when a suspected car thief bounced two stolen vehicles off two different police cruisers over the course of just a few minutes.
It started when police spotted a stolen van travelling along Eagle Avenue, explained Supt. Dave Walsh, top cop for the Ridge Meadows RCMP.
An officer in an unmarked police car was following the stolen van onto Cherrywood Drive, without lights and siren, when without warning the suspect threw the van into reverse and smashed into the police car.
“What I can tell you is at no time were police involved in a pursuit,” Walsh explained.
The suspect then drove off, towards the end of the cul-de-sac, where he abandoned the first van and jumped in and stole a second vehicle.
As he was trying to escape, he crashed the second stolen vehicle into another police cruiser, flipping the escape vehicle on its side, Walsh added.
The suspect was quickly taken into custody after that, said the officer in charge of the local RCMP.
“During the incident a police officer discharged his service pistol. The suspect was not injured due to the discharge of the police firearm, but did sustain minor injuries in the crashes. He was treated in hospital, and is now in police custody,” Walsh said Sunday morning.
The suspect is expected to appear in court on Monday.
Ridge Meadows RCMP will not be making any further statements on the matter today (Sunday) in order to give investigators a chance to continue the investigation.
This case is being investigated by members of both Ridge Meadows and Coquitlam RCMP serious crimes units, and the Independent Investigations Office has been appraised, Walsh added.
- Stay tuned to the online and print editions of The TIMES for updates on this story.
