Vernon police arrest suspect after chase
Losing one shoe running away from police was bad enough.
But losing both shoes fleeing towards mountains on a cold winter night was enough for a Kamloops man.
A Vernon-North Okanagan officer was patrolling Highway 97 near Monte Lake Saturday at 11 p.m. when he noticed a vehicle driving north at a high rate of speed.
When the vehicle crossed the centre line, the officer activated his lights and siren, and stopped the vehicle three kilometres shy of the Barnhartvale Road turnoff.
As the officer got out of the car, he noticed the driver put both hands outside his vehicle.
“The officer asked what he was doing and the driver said the vehicle was stolen,” said RCMP spokesperson Gord Molendyk.
The male driver was placed under arrest and he got out of the vehicle. The officer noticed a woman n the passenger seat and advised her to get out of the vehicle.
As she did that, the driver stood up and started to run away on the east side of the highway into a nearby field.
“In his attempt to flee, the suspect lost his shoe while running away,” said Molendyk.
A police service dog unit from Kamloops was called to search for the man who took off.
A 32-year-old Kamloops man was arrested without incident about 250 yards away. He had lost both shoes while running away.
“He was cold and he wanted to give up,” said Molendyk. “He had hoped to run into the mountains in an attempt to evade arrest. After he lost his shoes, and with his light clothing he was wearing, he felt it was not in his best interests to do that.”
The man is expected to face charges of possession of stolen property, obstruction and flight from police.
The woman in the passenger seat, 29, from Kamloops, was arrested for possession of stolen property.
The vehicle is an Alberta vehicle that was stolen from Kelowna.
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