PHOTOS: Man involved in Saskatoon car chase faces 28 charges

Police said the 35-minute incident started when an officer tried to do a traffic stop near 8th Street and Goodwin Avenue around 2:40 p.m. Saturday because he thought the vehicle was unregistered. The man inside the stolen red Pontiac refused to stop and started driving erratically, so the officer stopped the pursuit and told other officers in the area to be on the lookout.

The man and the car were eventually spotted driving into oncoming traffic on 33rd Street.

Police Chief Clive Weighill said around 10 minutes later, a K-9 unit vehicle spotted the car heading north on Idylwyld Drive, and police thought the man might try to leave the city. He eventually turned around at Highway 16 and Marquis Drive and came towards another K-9 officer who had just put down a spike strip.

“That was the first time we knew he had a firearm. He allegedly pointed his handgun at our K-9 officer,” Weighill said, adding it was at this point officers started a constant chase.

Police used a second set of spike strips on Idylwyld Drive that flattened both front tires of the Pontiac. Around Idylwyld Drive and 25th Street, the man allegedly fired at a police cruiser. Weighill could not confirm how many times the man fired the gun because it was an air pistol.

Officers tried two more times to stop the car with spike strips. Each time, the suspect allegedly slowed down and pointed the firearm at police. Police pulled out their own guns and fired on the vehicle.

“We believe there are around 10 to 12 shots fired by the police at that vehicle,” Weighill said, adding he does not have the final count. “Even though the weapon was found to be an air pistol handgun replica, at the time, police could not determine it was a replica. In their minds, they were dealing with somebody that had a handgun.”

Weighill said at no time did police fire from their vehicles while they were chasing the man. He said all shots came from officers who were outside trying to set up spike strips when the man allegedly pointed his pistol at them.

During the chase, police used spike strips three times, puncturing at least two of the car’s tires.

The man then allegedly fired at officers at Idylwyld Drive and 22nd Street, turned west on 22nd Street and continued down to Avenue R where he allegedly shot at officers again. He then came back towards downtown on 22nd Street where he was rammed by two police cruisers and came to a stop at the busy downtown intersection of 22nd Street and 2nd Avenue.

Weighill said officers purposely rammed the Pontiac to stop the chase.

No one was injured.

The man driving the Pontiac was looked over my paramedics at the scene before being taken into custody by police. Witnesses said the lone man inside the car was able to walk.

The man was “unfortunately well known” to authorities according Weighill.

“He’s had 20 contacts with our service since May 2014. He is very well known to our service,” Weighill said, adding he could not elaborate on the types of contacts police had with the 35 year old.

Weighill said even in custody, the man continued to make death threats against police. He could not confirm if the man was under the influence of any substance during the incident, though his charges include possession of methamphetamine.

The intersection of 22nd Street and 2nd Avenue was closed for several hours. Intersections within a one block radius on the scene were also closed.

A dozen cop cars, an ambulance, a fire truck, and more than two dozen officers filled the busy intersection, which was quickly surrounded by police tape.

In the middle of it all, the red Pontiac was still smoking; its front hood crumpled from the crash. Glass, plastic and red car-parts lay scattered around the intersection.

Witness accounts

Tiana McKay had just left the Starbucks on the corner when the crash occurred.

“Then I just see that red car just crash into the pole there out of nowhere,” she said. “(Police cars) all came scattered all over 2nd Avenue and 22nd, just blocking him in.”

Weighill said incidents like Saturday’s are “very very rare” but that the crime climate in Saskatoon has changed.

“With a lot of the drugs, methamphetamine seems to be a big driver here in Saskatoon. That’s causing the police service all kinds of issues,” he said.

During the chase, several residents followed police and the suspect.

Cameron Domes and Harmony Copperthwaite were on their way home from the gym when they said they saw the suspect drive over a set of spike strips on Idylwyld Drive. They followed the chase in their truck.

“I’d never seen anything like this before so I pretty much told him we got to go watch because this is exciting,” Copperthwaite said.

Weighill said people shouldn’t follow police or a suspect during a chase and should pull over to the side of the road and let it pass.

Saskatoon police will review their own video footage and ask anyone who witnesses the chase or has video of it to come forward.

The incident as well as the use of police guns will be reviewed internally by the Use of Force review board, Accident review board and Pursuit review board, with findings going to the Saskatchewan Police commission.

news@panow.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow

by Lasia Kretzel

PHOTOS: Man involved in Saskatoon car chase faces 28 charges

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