Lethbridge police say an 18-year-old woman and 20-year-old man are each facing numerous charges in connection to a string of incidents involving a stolen truck.
Investigators initially received a complaint of a stolen pick-up truck from the city’s west side at around 1:15 p.m. Thursday. Police located the vehicle that evening, but when they attempted a traffic stop, they say the woman at the wheel refused and fled from the officer.
Police located the same stolen 2013 Ford F150 truck on Friday evening in an alley behind Sheridan Road around 7:30 p.m.. The same woman was driving, but this time had a man with her as a passenger.
“Police pulled in behind the truck, the officer exited his vehicle and gave verbal direction for the occupants to get out,” Lethbridge police said in a news release on Monday.
“They did not comply and the vehicle began reversing toward the officer who was able to move out of the way. He deployed his less-lethal sock gun in an effort to gain compliance but the truck continued to reverse, striking the police vehicle and pushing it out of the way before hitting two fences and a tree,” police said.
The officer was not injured, but the truck got away again.
At 8:40 p.m., RCMP were notified about a vehicle matching the truck’s description driving erratically on Highway 25. It was later found abandoned in Coaldale at around 9:25 p.m.
Lethbridge police say both suspects were located at a home in Coaldale early Saturday and arrested by RCMP.
Aedan Tanya Betts of Lethbridge and Jason James Mercer of Coaldale each face charges that including dangerous driving, flight from police and assaulting a peace officer with a weapon.
Both are in custody and are scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.