Erratic driver in stolen truck leads Edmonton police on wild chase
A man in a stolen pickup led police on a chaotic chase through the outskirts of Edmonton early Wednesday, hitting fences, parked vehicles and forcing another driver off the road.
The chase lasted more than an hour, and finally came to an end in Nisku, where officers pursued the suspect on foot and used a police dog to bring down the man.
Officers were first called just after 6 a.m., after witnesses spotted a suspected impaired driver in a Ford F-350 truck hauling a vacation trailer. The truck was seen running multiple red lights and hitting traffic signs, police spokesperson Scott Pattison said in a news release.
Police first tried to stop the truck as it headed east on Ellerslie Road and Rabbit Hill Road in southwest Edmonton.
The truck drove erratically at low speed, but soon sped off, police said.
Police cruisers pursued the truck as it headed west onto 41st Avenue SW, near Highway 2. Officers eventually called off the chase as rush-hour traffic began congesting streets.
Police tried spike belts to stop truck
Though they lost sight of the pickup for a few minutes, officers in unmarked cruisers "covertly" followed the truck, which was involved in another collision near Ellerslie Road and 127th Street, police said.
Officers tried to stop the truck with a spike belt, but it continued south on 101st Street, near Township Road 510. There, it forced another vehicle off the road. The female driver was not hurt.
As the truck made its way into Nisku, it hit two fences near 31st Avenue and 4th Street.
The truck avoided another spike belt, then hit a stationary vehicle, with a male driver inside, and two parked vehicles in a parking lot.
After crashing the truck, the suspect fled on foot. He was soon brought down by a police dog.
"Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt in this morning's incident, which ended with the suspect's successful arrest," Pattison said in the news release.
The suspect is being treated for non-life threatening injuries.
Police later learned the truck and trailer had both been reported stolen.
Numerous charges are pending, including dangerous driving, criminal flight, hit-and-run collision, possession of stolen property and driving with a disqualified licence.
