Mission RCMP vehicles damaged after pickup truck driver allegedly rams police
MISSION — Several RCMP vehicles were damaged in Mission earlier this week after a driver tried unsuccessfully to flee from a traffic stop.
According to a news release from the Mission RCMP detachment, Mounties say the incident began around 10:30 p.m. on Sunday night, February 25 when a security guard at a construction site on Maple Street in Mission witnessed a black truck pull up to the site. A passenger exited the truck, smashed the window of another truck parked at the scene, stole items from inside and returned to the black truck and subsequently drove away from the area.
A short time later, residents along Shook Road in Hatzic reported that a suspicious black truck had just sped into a trailer park, and three people had run from it. Mission RCMP responded to the scene, confirmed that it seemed to be the same black truck used in the earlier theft, and that the truck had been stolen from Langley a day prior. Police contained the area in an effort to locate the males.
While police were on scene, an officer saw a white Dodge Ram pickup truck driving in the area. The officer attempted to pull over the truck, to see if any of the males that fled from the stolen truck were inside. The truck initially pulled over, but it then turned around, drove into the first officer’s vehicle, drove into a second police vehicle, then collided with a third as it tried to get over a small bridge. One of the police vehicles was able to stop the truck by pushing it into a ditch. The driver resisted arrest but was eventually taken into custody. Evidence revealed drug trafficking was located inside his truck.
“This was a very dangerous situation, and it’s fortunate that no one was seriously injured,” said Corporal Harrison Mohr with Mission RCMP. “One minute, a vehicle appeared to be complying with a traffic stop, then all of a sudden the full-size pickup truck turned around and drove into three police cars. Our officers recognized that the driver of this vehicle posed an immediate safety risk, and acted quickly to immobilize his vehicle before anyone got hurt.”
It’s not yet clear whether the driver of this truck was related to the stolen black truck, or whether he just happened to be driving through an area where police were conducting an investigation that may not have even been related to him.
Police say no officers were injured as a result of the incident. Multiple charges have been recommended against the driver of the white truck, whom was already prohibited from driving. The investigations into both the stolen black truck and the white truck continue.
Anyone who saw this white Dodge Ram 1500 driving erratically on the night of Sunday, February 25 is asked to call Mission RCMP at 604-826-7161 and refer to file 24-2274.