Three people are facing charges after a police chase crossed multiple jurisdictions and resulted in a small grass fire south of Calgary.
At around 2:30 a.m. Friday Calgary police let Okotoks RCMP know that a stolen Ford F-350 was seen heading towards the community. Officers from Okotoks and the High River detachments found the vehicle, which was being monitored by the Calgary police HAWCS helicopter, on Highway 2.
Police rolled out a spike belt north of High River. Two of the runaway vehicle’s tires were deflated, but the driver kept going, turning off Highway 2 towards the town of High River. At that point, two passengers jumped from the truck and tried to hide from police.
Officers were able to find the man and woman with help from the helicopter.
Meanwhile, the truck continued into the town of High River before turning onto Highway 23 towards Vulcan, Alta.
Police deployed a second spike belt and the other two tires were deflated. That didn’t stop the driver and sparks from the rims on the road ignited a small grass fire near the village of Champion. Volunteer firefighters were called to extinguish the blaze.
A short time later the truck caught fire and the driver stopped. A 35-year-old man from Calgary was arrested.
He was found to be on statutory release and was returned to the custody of Correctional Services Canada.
He is facing charges of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, possession of stolen property and flight from police.
The passengers, a 26-year-old woman and a 25-year-old man, both face a charge of possession of stolen property over $5,000. Both are from Calgary.
Police are not releasing the names of those arrested because the charges hadn’t been sworn as of Friday at 12:30 p.m.