Stolen police cruiser recovered after highway chase

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/06/2019 (2460 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A suspect who stole a city police cruiser just after officers had stopped a carjacking at the Flying J gas bar in Headingley, led police and RCMP on a high-speed chase on the Trans-Canada Highway early Thursday, police said.

“The speed with which this unfolded, the amount of police resources that were required, I can say that I’ve never actually seen anything like it… I think everyone in the police service is stunned at how this unfolded and what happened,” WPS spokesman Const. Rob Carver said.

At least two suspects have been arrested, but Carver said police weren’t prepared to release any details about the individuals.

The incident began at about 2:30 a.m., when general patrol officers in the North End spotted a stolen vehicle. The police helicopter, dubbed Air-1, was already in flight, and followed the vehicle to a Flying J gas bar in Headingley, west of Winnipeg.

“I don’t know if (they) knew that police were behind them or not,” said Carver.

Two suspects left the stolen vehicle and apparently tried to carjack another at the gas bar.

Winnipeg officers intervened. “We had to stop that,” Carver said, adding both suspects fled police.

One was arrested at the gas bar. “One was able to circle back and get into a police car, and stole the police car,” which the keys had been left in.

“I’m going to tell you, having been a police officer for over 25 years, if I think somebody’s in danger over there and I jump out of my car, I don’t think the person over there whose life is at risk wants me to wait and make sure I stop the car and pull the keys out — I’m going to get out to save someone’s life,” Carver said.

“That’s the kind of scenario we were dealing with… We’re less worried about the car than we are about making sure people over there are safe.”

Winnipeg police informed the RCMP and members of both forces chased the stolen police cruiser west for about 10 kilometres before the vehicle was stopped and the suspect arrested near the intersection of the Trans-Canada Highway and Provincial Trunk Highway 26.

At some point during the incident, the crew of Air-1 made what Carver called a “tactical decision” to land the aircraft.

“I think everyone in the police service is stunned at how this unfolded and what happened.”–WPS spokesman Const. Rob Carver said.

“I think they realized that fuel reserves were low, and made a decision to put down where it was safe,” he said.

Carver wouldn’t say exactly how many vehicles and officers were involved in the incident, but said Winnipeg police spent Thursday morning trying to catch up with a backlog of more than 300 calls.

“We’re asking the city to be patient… Calls have to be triaged, so the most serious ones have to be dealt with first. That means less serious ones could get bumped.”

solomon.israel@freepress.mb.ca 

Twitter: @sol_israel