Two men are in custody after a truck that was stolen in Errington and chased by police in Nanaimo crashed in Nanoose on the weekend.
The incident started Sunday at about 4:45 a.m. when a large pickup truck and trailer, carrying a $50,000 pavement roller machine, was stolen from a paving company located on the Alberni Highway in Errington.
According to Oceanside RCMP, security camera video showed that two men enter the compound and tried to steal a Ford F550 pickup truck. When that attempt failed, they broke into a second truck and drove it through the compound gates, causing substantial damage.
News of the theft was forwarded to mid Island RCMP detachments. A Nanaimo RCMP member spotted the truck.
During the ensuing chase, police deployed a spike belt which punctured the tires of the stolen truck. A civilian car was also damaged.
The truck continued northbound and eventually crashed while trying to avoid a police roadblock set up at the Island Highway and Northwest Bay Road at about 10:45 a.m. The two suspects were arrested with help from Nanaimo RCMP Police Dog Services.
The trailer was later recovered near the scene of another theft from a vehicle in the Ladysmith area. Evidence from that theft was allegedly found in the stolen truck.
A 21-year-old Parksville man and a 26-year-old man from Errington are in custody.
Oceanside RCMP said in a press release that one of the men had recently been released from custody for other offences.
Both suspects were scheduled to appear in Nanaimo provincial court Monday morning.