Alberta men arrested after RCMP pursuit in western Manitoba
Two Alberta men face weapons and other charges after RCMP found a loaded pistol and another weapon in a stolen pickup truck following a police pursuit near the Trans-Canada Highway in western Manitoba.
RCMP say one of their traffic officers stopped a black pickup truck that was driving east at speeds exceeding 150 km/h on the highway near Oak Lake, Man., around 4 p.m. CT Tuesday.
The truck stopped but took off again as the officer was approaching it, and it was around that time that the officer learned the vehicle had been reported stolen in Alberta, according to police.
RCMP say the truck drove through the median ditch and into the opposite lane. It went toward oncoming traffic but no collisions were reported, police said.
The officer pursued the truck until it went into the opposite lane, then followed it from a distance as it turned onto a gravel road.
The truck did not slow down for two more RCMP officers who were stationed ahead of it on the gravel road, but it ended up swerving into a water-filled ditch near Road 50 N and Road 143 West.
Both the driver and the passenger were arrested. Inside the truck, officers seized a loaded pistol and a sawed-off pellet gun that was made to look like a sawed-off rifle, according to police.
"This was a very dangerous situation for our officers and for the public," Sgt. Mark Hume of the Manitoba RCMP Westman Traffic Services said in a news release Wednesday.
"[The] wanted individuals ... appeared to have no regard for public safety."
A 32-year-old man from Innisfail, Alta., and a 22-year-old man from Red Deer, Alta., face charges that include fleeing from police, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, firearms-related offences, failing to comply with various court orders and possessing property obtained by crime.
Both men, who had initially tried to provide fake names when they were arrested, were also wanted on out-of-province arrest warrants, RCMP said. They are currently in custody.
