Alberta man facing charges after crashing 2 stolen vehicles, hitting police vehicle

Charges are pending against an Alberta man allegedly involved in a police pursuit on Tuesday that involved multiple stolen vehicles, collisions and erratic driving.

It began at around 11 a.m. when RCMP said they attempted to stop the driver of a stolen cube van in Cochrane, Alta. The driver “ignored police” and continued driving, traveling south on Highway 22.

As the van entered an intersection with Highway 1A, it collided with another vehicle. Investigators said the driver did not stop, and instead kept driving south on Highway 22 until colliding with a second vehicle at the intersection with Griffin Road.

RCMP say the suspect then got out of the stolen van and ran up to the vehicle with which he had just collided, a Jeep Wrangler, forcing the driver out before he hopped inside and sped off, continuing south on Highway 22.

“Fortunately, no one was injured in either of the collisions in Cochrane, nor during the theft of the Jeep,” RCMP said in a Tuesday news release.

Witnesses reported seeing the stolen Jeep Wrangler traveling west on Highway 1 and driving into oncoming traffic.

The suspect was later located by Canmore RCMP while allegedly attempting to break into vehicles in the mountain town.

“The incident ended when the stolen vehicle hit a police vehicle, and the suspect was apprehended trying to flee the scene,” RCMP said.

The name of the suspect will not be released until charges have been laid.