Assistance from the public aided in the arrest of a suspect in the Boxwood Road area after he allegedly evaded a road stop and smashed into a police car in another part of town.
Staff Sgt. John Blaise, of Nanaimo RCMP, said the incident occurred near Old Victoria Road at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 26, when police attempted to stop a Ford pickup truck. The driver is alleged to have refused to pull over, Blaise said.
“Eventually they did end up stopping because they went down a dead-end road and the members tried to effect the stop and once the member was in behind the vehicle, [the suspect] tried to run the police car over, reversed and then smashed the police car, and then smashed his way out into a ditch across the street … he was able to get the vehicle unstuck and proceeded to drive dangerously from that point on, all over the place,” said Blaise.
Blaise said the suspect left an oil trail, which police followed.
“We have to give credit to the general public because they started pointing us in the direction that he went,” said Blaise. “Every time we made a corner, there was another person there saying, ‘Yeah, he went this way’ and then, ‘He went that way….’ Through the assistance of the general public [we] were able to locate where he had ditched the vehicle and then a foot chase started and he ended up getting taken into custody.”
Blaise said the 28-year-old man from Duncan resisted arrest and RCMP officers suffered minor injuries.
The man was taken to hospital, as police suspect he may have consumed “illicit substances,” and Blaise also suspects the man may have suffered injuries.
“He was trying to run like Usain Bolt and was nowhere near Olympic shape,” said Blaise.
The suspect will subsequently be transferred to cells at the Nanaimo RCMP detachment.
If anyone witnessed, or has dash cam footage of the incident, they are asked to contact Const. Blacklock of Nanaimo RCMP at 250-754-2345.
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reporter@nanaimobulletin.com
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