Bear spray-wielding man steals truck in Yukon, flees 2,000 km to B.C.
An Alberta man faces a number of charges after allegedly intruding on a Yukon mine site in the wee hours, blasting someone there with bear spray, stealing a pickup truck, and driving it as far as Quesnel, B.C. where he was ultimately arrested by RCMP.
In a news release on Tuesday, Yukon RCMP say the armed theft happened at a mining site outside Carmacks, Yukon, early on Friday.
Police say they were called just before 4:30 a.m. Two people at the mining site had apparently been woken by an intruder, and one of them was hit by bear spray when they confronted the intruder.
The two victims managed to flee to somewhere safe, while the intruder stole a Ford F-150 truck and hit the road.
Police say the man managed to drive about 2,000 kilometres — evading RCMP in Fort Nelson, Fort St. John, and Prince George, B.C. — before he was finally arrested near Quesnel on Friday evening.
The 44-year-old Hinton, Alta., man was remanded to Prince George and is scheduled to appear in B.C. court next week to face charges related to alleged offences in that province.
He's also facing several weapons and theft-related charges in Yukon, including robbery, assault with a weapon, break and enter, and attempted forcible confinement.
The Yukon charges will be addressed after the man has dealt with his matters in B.C., police say.
Yukon RCMP say anybody with more information about what happened should call them at 867-863-2677 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).
