Two Alberta men in custody after allegedly stealing a truck and evading police

Two Alberta men have been arrested after allegedly stealing a vehicle and then evading police Saturday evening in West Kelowna.

RCMP said the suspects were armed with loaded firearms when they stole a pickup truck along Ironridge Drive just before 11 p.m.

The stolen grey Ford F350 was then spotted driving through the Shannon Lake neighbourhood, police said.

“Officers engaged their emergency lights and sirens in an effort to conduct a traffic stop with the freshly-stolen pickup truck,” Cpl. Jesse O’Donaghey said.

“The stolen pickup truck failed to stop for police, instead accelerating at a high rate of speed, placing the general public, responding police officers and themselves at risk. As a result, our officers disengaged their pursuit of the vehicle.”

Police said that the truck was later spotted heading northbound towards Kelowna.

“In an attempt to corner the truck in a dead end off Sneena Road, the suspect allegedly reversed at high speed towards police,” O’Donaghey said.

The stolen vehicle then entered the bridge and crossed the lake into Kelowna, according to police.

RCMP officers said a spike belt was unsuccessfully deployed on the bridge deck after the suspect vehicle turned around at Abbott Street.

Police then went on to set up a roadblock after the stolen truck was spotted fleeing down another dead end road on the west side of the Okanagan Lake.

In a final escape attempt, the driver high centered the F350 while driving through a field along Old Ferry Wharf Road before both he and a passenger were taken into police custody, RCMP said.

Two sawed-off shotguns were found inside the stolen vehicle.

A 23-year-old man and a 30-year-old man, both from Cold Lake Alberta, face potential criminal charges. They are currently in custody and scheduled to appear in court on Monday.

Anyone who witnessed the incident is asked to contact 250-768-2880.