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RCMP arrest man who nearly ran officer over

Individual now awaiting charges for multiple offences

At 12:30 p.m. on Sept. 13 an RCMP seatbelt and cell phone check stop on Portage Road resulted in a 45-year-old man from D'Arcy, currently with no fixed address, facing charges for impaired driving, assault with a weapon, dangerous driving and causing a police officer pursuit.

According to the RCMP, the man was stopped at the road check, and after the police officer detected the odour of alcohol an impaired driving investigation was initiated. At that point the drive started his Mercury Sable sedan and drove towards the police officer, nearly striking her with his car. She contacted for backup and followed the driver in her police car out to Highway 99. The suspect was driving at a high rate of speed and passing cars over the double yellow lines, at which point the RCMP backed off to maintain public safety.

Meanwhile, police from Whistler headed north to help out. A vehicle passed the suspect while heading northbound, and turned around to pursue it. The vehicle was stuck behind a gravel truck with two trailers, and was travelling under the speed limit at that time.

However, despite flashing lights and the siren the driver refused to pull over.

An RCMP driver attempted to deploy a spike belt, but the vehicle drove around it. Later, the truck slowed down and a police officer deployed another spoke belt behind it. The driver tried to pass on the right, and was hit by the truck as it pulled over to the side of the road. Another police officer wedged the vehicle in and the man was arrested with no further incident.

As of press time on Tuesday the man was in custody, awaiting his first court appearance.

 

Intoxicated thief caught red-handed

This was no master criminal at work. At 6:45 a.m. on Sept. 8, the RCMP responded to a call regarding a stolen vehicle and break and enter at a property just off Old Gravel Road. The police attended and found their suspect - a 24-year-old Whistler male known to police from previous incidents - in the shed of the home with bottles around his feet and a wine bottle in each hand.

The police learned that the man had been drinking in nearby Piney Point Park on Alpha Lake before he went to the residence, and attempted to drive away the owners truck. He struck a car, a railing and a planter before stranding the vehicle on a rock. At that point he left the keys on top of the truck, then proceeded to break into the shed where he found the wine.

The male is now facing charges of breaking and entering, and mischief. Additional charges related to the theft of the vehicle may be added.

 

Police officer injured after receiving weapons call

A member of the Whistler RCMP was taken to hospital in Vancouver after he went off the side of the road in a patrol car while answering a call regarding an assault with a weapon.

The call came in at 11:30 p.m. at a residence in Function Junction that was known to the police. On investigation it appears that one roommate attacked the other with a knife, although there were no injuries. One male had a four-inch scratch on his back that he opted not to treat, while a 34-year-old male spent the night in cells and may face charges of assault with a weapon.

The first police officer to answer the call was driving southbound on the highway just past the village when he encountered road pylons set up for the GranFondo bike ride. With southbound vehicles being pushed out onto the shoulder to create a middle lane there was no room for a vehicle in front of the patrol car to pull over. As a result, the police officer pulled out around the vehicle into the temporary centre lane, lost control of his vehicle and ended up in the ditch on the east side of the highway, 100-metres past Whistler Way. He was taken to the Whistler Health Care Centre for treatment, and then sent to Vancouver General Hospital as a precaution. He is expected to make a full recovery.