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31-year-old Coquitlam man charged in alleged Port Coquitlam carjacking chaos

Crews attend to the car that was hijacked by a suspect in Port Coquitlam on Feb. 16, 2017. Bill Cook

A 31-year-old Coquitlam man is facing charges after an alleged carjacking that caused chaos on the roads of Port Coquitlam in February.

Haman Lamar Benamaisia faces one count of robbery and one count of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle related to the carjacking.

According to RCMP Cpl. Michael McLaughlin, it started at about 10 a.m. when police tried to stop a pick-up truck in a parking lot in the 3000-block of Lougheed Highway.

When police arrived at the scene, the driver took off and hit another vehicle in the parking lot. Moments later, police received more calls regarding the suspect, who had then crashed his truck on Westwood Street at Kingsway.

McLaughlin said there are train tracks at the intersection and the suspect couldn’t get his truck over them. He then got out of his truck and allegedly carjacked a nearby vehicle, sped away again and got into a third crash, which disabled the stolen vehicle. The woman, whose car was carjacked, was shaken up and had minor injuries.

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WATCH: A wild scene in Port Coquitlam, where police were looking for a suspect in no fewer than three dangerous crashes, and a carjacking. 

Click to play video: 'Crash and carjacking in Port Coquitlam'
Crash and carjacking in Port Coquitlam

The suspect ran away and was last seen on Kingsway Avenue.

Benamaisia, who is well-known to police, was arrested on April 21 and is currently in custody in Coquitlam.

His next court appearance is April 27.

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