A South Okanagan man with warrants for his arrest is in custody following a stolen vehicle chase on Tuesday.
Grand Forks RCMP say the incident began around 4:45 a.m., after a resident in nearby Christina Lake, B.C., alerted police that his truck had been stolen.
“The owner of the truck turned to social media to let people know about this crime,” said police. “By 12:20 p.m., someone alerted the owner that they saw his stolen truck heading west out of town on Highway 3.”
Police say officers from Grand Forks began heading west, towards Greenwood on Highway 3, while an officer from Midway went east to intercept the truck.
“Just east of Greenwood, it was clear that the stolen truck was not stopping and members deployed a spike belt in an attempt to stop the stolen truck,” said police.
“The truck ran over the belt but continued on into Greenwood.”
Police say the officers caught up with the stolen vehicle, and were able to “safely guide the stolen truck off the road, which struck a ditch and came to rest on its side.”
RCMP said the lone male suspect inside the truck was taken into custody without incident.
Court records show that Michael Scott Miller, 41, is facing charges of possession of stolen property, flight from police and driving while disqualified.
Police say the Oliver resident is in custody in Grand Forks, awaiting a bail hearing. However, RCMP noted that he also had two outstanding warrants from Kamloops and Surrey for his arrest.
“This was an exceptional response between two different detachments and our dispatch operators in Kelowna to coordinate this matter and apprehend the suspect,” said RCMP Sgt. Darryl Peppler.
“Everything came together quickly allowing us to apprehend a suspect during the commission of a crime and bring them before the courts.”