A man who was arrested after havoc on a B.C. highway last week, where a pickup truck rammed into two vehicles, may have been undergoing a mental health issue.
That’s according to the B.C. RCMP, who say a high-risk takedown was needed to arrest the man at a gas station after police boxed the vehicle in.
The incident on Feb. 8 began just after 11 p.m., when police received a call from a motorist in a minivan with two children along the Trans-Canada Highway in Golden.
According to police, the woman had to suddenly swerve to avoid a white Dodge Ram 1500 that was parked on the highway without its lights on.
“The Dodge pickup then caught up to them, rear-ended them and rammed the driver’s side of their vehicle. The Dodge pickup then sped off westbound. There were no reported injuries to the family,” RCMP said.
Police in Revelstoke were alerted and two police vehicles tried to intercept the Dodge. However, it sped off, crossing double-solid yellow lines and into oncoming traffic, with police calling off pursuit.
Revelstoke RCMP were then notified that the westbound Dodge had rammed another vehicle and run it off the road, with the victim driver suffering a broken bone.
“Sicamous RCMP were aware of the white Dodge truck heading their way,” police said, with one officer spotting the truck with front-end damage.
Along the Trans-Canada, the Dodge got stuck behind a semi-truck and was followed to Canoe, where Salmon Arm RCMP set up a spike belt.
Police say they tried another traffic stop on the truck, but that it again fled, into oncoming traffic, and that it managed to avoid the spike belt.
The truck was next spotted at a local gas station, where officers boxed the Dodge in.
“The male driver was arrested in a high-risk takedown without incident,” the RCMP said. “It was determined the driver may have been suffering from a mental health issue and was transported to a local hospital.”
Police say they are forwarding several charges to the BC Prosecution Service for consideration.
“This was a high-risk situation where our officers made tough decisions in considering the safety of the public and attempting to stop this driver,” Sgt. Simon Scott of the Salmon Arm RCMP detachment said.
“This incident shows the great communication and teamwork between our officers at neighbouring detachments in safely locating and stopping this driver before anyone was more seriously injured.”