One man has been arrested and police are still searching for a second suspect after two fire trucks were stolen and taken for a costly joyride in southern Alberta earlier this month.
Sgt. Colleen Lowing of the Vulcan RCMP detatchment said officers were responding to a commercial alarm near the firehall in Champion, about 90 minutes southeast of Calgary, on April 20.
“While en route to the scene, the responding officer noticed two vehicles that looked out of place, and as he got closer, he recognized them as the local Champion fire rescue rapid response trucks,” said Lowing.
“They were driving at a high rate of speed, really close together, without their emergency lights activated, so he made a decision on instinct to try to stop those vehicles to try to determine what was going on, knowing the proximity of the Champion firehall to the commercial break and enter he was en route to.”
However, the two trucks failed to stop, and a short chase ensued with the trucks reaching speeds of about 140 km/h, before both of the stolen fire trucks crashed into a ditch and were unable to be driven any further.
Get breaking National news
“From what the RCMP constable who was pursuing them told me, is that one of them cleared an intersection and nosed into a ditch and that folded the truck and bent the frame,” said Douglas Headrick, the regional fire chief of Vulcan County.
After crashing the trucks, the two suspects took off on foot.
One of them was eventually tracked down with the assistance of an RCMP canine team.
Lowing said the suspect has been identified as a 25-year-old man from the Peace River area who is well known to police.
He has been charged with several offences, including break and enter, possession of stolen property, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and breaching release orders.
The other suspect got away, but Lowing said he is believed to be back in the Peace River area.
Headrick said both fire trucks — one of them a medical response unit and the other a wildland fire vehicle — were so badly damaged that they are considered writeoffs.
The cost of the damage is estimated at about $257,000.
With files from The Canadian Press.
- World junior sex assault trial: Here’s what has happened in court so far
- Fentanyl labs in Canada a ‘growing concern’ to U.S., DEA report warns
- World junior players had group chat to talk sex assault allegations response: witness
- Calgary bus driver hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after being attacked, two people arrested
Comments