A Yorkton fugitive is finally in custody following an on-and-off, four-hour chase with Regina Police and RCMP October 31 that ended with an attempted car-jacking.
William Crawford, 28, faces 18 new charges including drugs and weapons offences, robbery, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, flight from police and breaches of a court order.
In addition, he has numerous outstanding charges related to a two-and-a-half month period of evading law enforcement.
Crawford was originally wanted in Yorkton for trafficking, drug and stolen property possession and weapons offences when Prince Albert RCMP spotted him on August 17.
He fled police, who broke off chase due to policies of protecting public safety. At that time Yorkton RCMP issued a press release seeking the public’s help in locating Crawford. Yorkton municipal RCMP commander Staff Sgt. Greg Nichol said Crawford had been known to threaten to kill police officers and advised the public he was being treated as being armed and extremely dangerous.
Yorkton police spotted Crawford again August 27, but again he fled and eluded officers.
On Saturday at approximately 9 a.m., Regina Police received a complaint of a suspicious pickup truck in the 4500 block of Gordon Road. An officer approached the male driver of the truck and suspected he was impaired, but the man put the vehicle in gear and took off. Officers did not pursue because, they said, the suspect was driving dangerously.
The suspect vehicle was again spotted heading west toward Moose Jaw. RCMP responded, but again broke off pursuit in the interest of public safety.
Moose Jaw RCMP picked up the chase at a Moose Jaw gas station, but again had to discontinue due to the unsafe nature of the suspect’s driving.
At the gas station, police picked up an alleged female accomplice of the driver, whom he abandoned when approached by officers.
Shelby Donald, 21, of Prince Albert faces one count each of possession of morphine and possession of methamphetamine and two counts of flight from police.
Just after 10 a.m., RCMP again spotted the truck traveling eastbound back toward Regina and alerted Regina Police. Regina officers attempted to deploy a spike belt, but were unsuccessful due to traffic. They located it again just before 11 a.m. in a parking lot near Fifth Avenue and Albert Street, but were unable to contain it again.
At 11:45 a.m. a Regina traffic officer attempted to stop a truck for speeding only to learn this was the same driver who had been eluding police all morning. He too had to break off pursuit.
Finally, approximately one hour later, Regina patrol officers were alerted to the truck traveling westbound in the area of Fifth Avenue and Robinson Street. A supervisor was able to deploy a spike belt and deflate the tires of the truck, which continued for a couple of more blocks before the driver abandoned it and fled on foot. He then attempted to car-jack another vehicle, but as he attempted to remove the female driver at gunpoint, the car rolled forward colliding with two police vehicles. One of the officers in attendance was able to deploy his conducted energy weapon (CEW, aka Taser) and subdued the suspect.
The firearm the suspect was carrying turned out to be a pellet gun. The female victim was uninjured.
Crawford appeared in provincial court in Regina November 2 where he was remanded in custody pending a bail hearing scheduled for November 10. He also faces outstanding charges in Yorkton and Prince Albert.
