On Wednesday, two Nanaimo officers suffered slight injuries while their vehicle sustained heavy damage during the recovery of a stolen vehicle.
At roughly 2:00 p.m., Nanaimo RCMP officers in the Street Crimes Unit encountered a Dodge Ram pickup truck that was reported stolen from the area on October 26th, travelling northbound on Highway 1.
RCMP quickly conceived a plan that accounted for the safety of the public and the attending officers, which involved surrounding the truck with police vehicles.
When the stolen pickup was stopped at a red light, police cruisers surrounded the vehicle and blocked its escape route. During the maneuver, a police vehicle from a neighbouring detachment experienced a mechanical failure and ended up ramming the drivers side door of a Nanaimo RCMP police vehicle.
The two officers inside the cruiser suffered minor injuries that did not require hospitalization, but their vehicle sustained significant damage.
The suspect was unharmed during the incident.
Once the suspect was detained, a search of the car revealed a replica Uzi gun, ammunition, knives, and a substance that is believed to be cocaine.
The male driver of the car faces charges of possession of stolen property, possession for the purpose of trafficking under the CDSA, and firearm charges relating to the seizure of the ammunition which he is prohibited from possessing.
The investigation is ongoing, and the suspect is scheduled to appear in Nanaimo Provincial Court today, Thursday, November 8th.
