Lengthy pursuit by Sask. RCMP ends in long list of charges

A 26-year-old man from the Cote First Nation faces a raft of charges after an incident that involved RCMP officers from four detachments.

In a media release Monday, the RCMP said the “series of pursuits” that began late Saturday eventually involved officers from the Wadena/Foam Lake, Yorkton, Melville and Fort Qu’Appelle detachments.

The incident began when officers from the Wadena/Foam Lake detachment got a report of a two-vehicle collision in Foam Lake. One of the drivers had taken off, but the other driver gave police a description of the man and his vehicle.

Police subsequently found the vehicle abandoned and determined it had been stolen in Canora.

An officer saw a man who matched the driver’s description and told him to stop, but the Mounties say the man pulled a machete out of his pants. He first pointed the weapon at the officer before holding it to his own throat and telling the officer to “leave me alone.” The suspect then ran off.

Shortly thereafter, the RCMP got a call that a man armed with a machete had stolen a truck. He last was seen on Highway 16 heading toward Yorkton.

The Yorkton RCMP entered the fray, but their efforts to stop the truck near Springside failed. Officers pursued the truck, which allegedly swerved into oncoming traffic — and, the RCMP added, nearly struck a Mountie.

Two attempts to stop the truck with spike belts failed when the suspect drove off the highway. He continued into Yorkton, where the pursuit was called off for safety reasons.

Officers soon found the truck at a gas station. They attempted to block in the vehicle but, police say, the suspect drove away with the nozzle from the fuel pump still attached.

The Melville RCMP took up the chase on Highway 10 while officers from the Fort Qu’Appelle RCMP set up a roadblock east of Balcarres. This time, a spike belt deflated the suspect’s tires — but he kept driving toward Fort Qu’Appelle.

The vehicle finally stopped when it hit a stop sign in Fort Qu’Appelle. The man ran into a backyard where he was surrounded by police, but he again held the machete to his throat.

Two attempts to Taser the suspect failed to end the standoff, as did a 70-minute conversation with an officer trained in crisis negotiation.

Finally, officers used what the RCMP called “an extended range impact weapon that shoots a foam projectile” to take down the man. At that point, officers were able to arrest him.

The man was charged with possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, driving while prohibited, failing to stop after an accident, possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000, assaulting a peace officer with a weapon, mischief over $5,000, mischief under $5,000, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, flight from a peace officer, theft under $5,000, and using an electronic device while driving.

He’s to make his next court appearance on Thursday in Fort Qu’Appelle.