Several charges are pending after a stolen truck police said was fleeing the wrong way up a major west Edmonton road ran a red light, triggering a chain-reaction collision that shut down the intersection on Tuesday night.
The crash at Stony Plain Road and 178th Street happened after police were initially called about a truck driving erratically a few kilometres away on the western outskirts of the city, the Edmonton Police Service said in an update on Wednesday.
At approximately 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, police responded to a convenience store parking lot near 106th Avenue and Winterburn Road.
Police said officers arrived in an unmarked cruiser, observed a Dodge Ram driving erratically and confirmed the license plate on the truck was reported stolen.
The pickup left the parking lot and was covertly tracked by police throughout west Edmonton, where EPS said officers looked for an opportunity to safely carry out a traffic stop.
While following the truck, police said officers saw it driving on the shoulder, as well as driving slowly through a red light and a stop sign.
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The truck eventually returned to the convenience store parking lot, where EPS said officers attempted to disable it.
EPS said police then attempted to use “other vehicle tactics” to stop the truck in the area of 209th Street and Stony Plain Road, but were unsuccessful.
The truck took off speeding, fleeing through the ditch and then driving east into oncoming westbound traffic on Stony Plain Road.
Edmonton police said the officers did not follow after it.
A short time later, the eastbound truck on the one-way road went through a red light at the intersection of 178th Street, colliding with a Purolator delivery truck that was travelling north through the intersection at the time.
That collision forced the delivery truck to hit three other vehicles that were stopped and waiting at the red light. Two SUVs and a car were seen damaged at the scene.
The man driving the truck got out and ran away from the scene on foot. Police said he was arrested in a nearby hotel parking lot moments later.
A single passenger of one of the stopped vehicles was taken to hospital as a precaution and police said there no other injuries were reported.
Police said officers searched the truck afterward and found a shotgun and ammunition.
The major collisions unit responded to the scene and much of the major intersection was closed for several hours Tuesday night as officers investigated.
Multiple charges are pending, police said.
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