Three men charged after police chase ends with train crash

Kingston police have charged three men after a police chase ended with a Via Rail passenger train crashing into a vehicle on March 29.

Last Thursday, the three accused, one 27-year-old man from Ajax and two men from Pickering, 23 and 19, were driving down Sir John A MacDonald Boulevard around 1:30 p.m. The Ajax man was under investigation for illicit drugs, so the Kingston Police Drug Enforcement Unit requested a nearby patrol officer to stop the vehicle.

During the attempted stop, the Ajax man rammed his car into the drug enforcement vehicle causing “significant damage,” according to Kingston police.

The suspects then fled, running red lights at the John Counter Boulevard and Dalton Avenue intersection before heading west on Highway 401, police said.

OPP were called and caught up to the runaways on Highway 2. According to a police press release, the three men then tried to escape by driving down the CN Rail tracks at Highway 2 and County Road 7, but the car broke down after about 200 metres of driving on the tracks.

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Just after the three men were extricated from the car and arrested, an eastbound passenger train rammed into the car, throwing it off the track and completely destroying the vehicle. No passengers on the train were injured.

Police say that cocaine the men threw from the car before it was smashed was recovered.

All three accused were charged with possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. The 19-year-old was also charged with breach undertaking, whereas the 27-year-old was additionally charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, fail to stop for police, breach undertaking, and breach of probation.