MEDICINE HAT, Alta. – A 24-year-old man from Weyburn is in custody following a series of incidents over the weekend that started with a suspicious vehicle report and ended in a police cruiser being rammed.
According to Medicine Hat Police Service (MHPS), on Aug. 23, an officer was conducting property checks in the Brier Park Industrial area when a Ford F150 was observed behaving suspiciously. An attempt was made to stop the vehicle but the driver fled from police at a high rate of speed.
Due to the consideration of public safety, no pursuit was initiated by officers. Their following investigation, however, led to the identification of a suspect.
On Aug. 24, at 9:51 p.m., the MHPS Patrol Section responded to a complaint regarding a vehicle in the 900 block of 3 Ave SE. The truck was located and confirmed as the same Ford F150 previously involved.
Once again, the truck evaded police, and for safety reasons, a pursuit wasn’t undertaken. Through additional police tactics, the vehicle was tracked into the North Flats, where it was located in the 800A block of Braemar St SE. When officers arrived, the suspect re-entered the vehicle and intentionally rammed a responding police unit before fleeing on foot.
The driver was apprehended following a brief foot chase. He faces charges of flight from police, dangerous driving, assault of a police officer with a weapon, assault to resist arrest, resisting a police officer, driving while suspended, and failing to remain at the scene of an accident.
MHPS didn’t name the suspect.
