A driver on the Coquihalla Highway had to quickly change lanes Thursday after seeing a Bentley, which turned out to be stolen, driving the wrong way at top speed towards him.
Jonathan Corrigan caught the moment on his dashcam around 6:30 p.m. while driving southwest near the Othello Road exit north of Hope on his way from Lake Country to White Rock.
The luxury car can be seen in the distance coming straight towards Corrigan in the left-hand lane, forcing him to switch to the other lane. The Bentley then quickly speeds past and out of sight.
Corrigan said he immediately reported the incident to Hope RCMP, but has yet to hear back from officers. He’s also thankful to have missed the potentially fatal collision.
“We got lucky there,” Corrigan said Friday. “If it were anywhere else — on a hill, around a corner — I would have been toast.”
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The Bentley has been traced to Raymond Campbell, the general manager of DriveCo Motors in Coquitlam, who said he discovered the car stolen from his Langley home Thursday morning.
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“It’s a gorgeous, gorgeous car — I bought it a year ago,” he told Global News Friday. “I thought one of my kids had moved it as a joke, but pretty soon I realized it was stolen.”
Langley RCMP confirmed they were investigating a report of a stolen Bentley that was received Thursday morning.
Campbell said he recognized the plate number on the car in the video as his, which was later confirmed after Merritt RCMP got in touch with him Thursday afternoon.
“They told me they gave chase, but had to call it off because of public safety,” he said.
Kelowna RCMP also gave chase to the Bentley Thursday night, Campbell said, but also had to call off the pursuit for public safety reasons. Vernon RCMP were then tasked with keeping an eye out for the car.
Early Saturday morning, Campbell posted to social media that the Bentley had been found in Summerland, but that the driver is still at large. He said the car is currently in RCMP possession.
Global News has reached out to RCMP in Summerland, Vernon and Langley for further comment.
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