A member of the Devon RCMP detachment is recovering in hospital after suffering serious injuries in a collision Thursday morning.
At around 2:30 a.m., an officer attempted to pull over an erratic driver near the town of Devon, Alta. When the driver sped off, the officer didn’t initiate a pursuit, but a second member was alerted to the situation.
Just a few minutes later, the first officer came across a two-vehicle collision between the suspect vehicle and an RCMP SUV, at the intersection of Range Road 264 and Township Road 504, southwest of the town.
“It appears that the two vehicles collided head on,” Cpl. Laurel Scott with RCMP “K” Division said.
Scott said the officer was outside of his vehicle when he was hit, but didn’t want to speculate on the circumstances surrounding the collision. The officer was unconscious and not breathing when he was found.
The responding officer performed emergency first aid until EMS arrived and took the injured officer to an Edmonton hospital. His injuries were described as serious but non-life threatening.
He has gone through surgery and remains in hospital.
“The first member had to do some pretty quick thinking, emergency first aid and got the second member breathing and conscious,” Scott said.
Occupants of the suspect vehicle were trapped after the collision. Once they were removed, the passenger was taken to an Edmonton hospital with unknown injuries, while the male driver was arrested on scene.
“This was an extremely dangerous situation for our members and speaks to the risks that we may be faced with at any time,” Sgt. Clifton Dunn said.
“My heartfelt gratitude goes out to the member whose quick response was instrumental in saving his colleague’s life.”
The 53-year-old suspect from Calmar remains in custody, but cannot be named at this time because charges haven’t been sworn before the courts. Scott couldn’t say what charges were being suggested, but said they would be traffic related. An update is expected on Friday.
“We’re happy that our member is okay,” she said. “This is a crazy incident and if the second member didn’t come across this collision the outcome would have been completely different.”
An RCMP collision analyst, the Criminal Crash Investigation Team and RCMP members from Leduc are all taking part in the ongoing investigation.
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