Ontario Provincial Police have provided more information regarding a recent public safety emergency alert.
Police say they received information from the Smiths Falls police service about a stolen vehicle, which OPP officers were able to locate travelling north on Highway 15 north of Smiths Falls.
The driver was arrested at the scene.
The alert was issued on the morning of Feb. 10, after police were made aware that two other men armed with a handgun had been near the Beckwith Recreation Complex. Police say both men have a history of violence and multiple criminal convictions.
An extensive search of the area was immediately launched, involving the OPP’s aviation, tactics and rescue unit, emergency response team, canine unit, and officers with the Lanark detachment.
During the ensuing investigation and search, the OPP determined there was no longer an ongoing, urgent and imminent threat to public safety in the area and the alert was lifted.
Dale Lewis Scott, 26, of Drummond-North Elmsley Township was charged with:
- dangerous operation
- flight from a peace officer
- operation while prohibited
- possession of stolen property obtained by crime
- public mischief
- mischief under $5,000
- operation while prohibited under the Criminal Code — two counts
- fail to comply with probation order — three counts
- driving while under suspension — two counts
According to the OPP, public safety emergency alerts are “only issued when there is an ongoing, urgent and significant threat to life. The purpose of the alert is to share critical and potentially life-saving information with the public quickly.”
Police add that one of the criteria for an emergency alert is that the threat is neither isolated nor contained.
“Because the suspects were at large, the emergency alert was issued to surrounding townships and municipalities,” the OPP said in a news release.
The two men mentioned in the alert have outstanding warrants for their arrests, police say, and should not be approached.