Up front: Calm settles over school district tempest page 3 Valley: Last Summer of Lee-Anne dealing with Huntington’s disease page 5 For all the news of the Cowichan region as it happens, plus stories from around British Columbia, go to our website www.cowichannewsleader.com Your news leader since 1905
Friday, July 13, 2012
Andrew Leong
Liz Fraser leads a hula-hoop demonstration during the Duncan-Cowichan Summer Festival’s Children’s Day at Charles Hoey Park on Sunday, July 8. Summer Fest continues downtown this weekend with Duncan Daze.
Man arrested after jumping from stolen Mustang during police chase Krista Siefken
News Leader Pictorial
A
police pursuit that saw a man jump from a stolen Mustang as its driver sped off was called off Tuesday afternoon due to safety concerns, RCMP say. The vehicle was later located abandoned on the Kingburn Forest Service Road in the Shawnigan Lake area. North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP learned about the stolen car at 3:20 p.m. on Tuesday, when a report of an erratic driver speeding northbound on the Trans-Canada Highway past Shawnigan Lake
was called in. A witness, police say, reported the vehicle — a silver Ford Mustang with B.C. plates — hitting the centre concrete meridian near Cobble Hill. The driver almost lost control before driving on. Police picked up the chase near Trunk Road and initiated a traf¿c stop with help from the Integrated Road Safety Unit. However, police say the driver managed to avoid Mounties by speeding through various side-streets. “The vehicle was observed to be travelling at a high rate of speed, making unsafe lane changes and driving in a reckless manner,” Cpl. Greg Pask
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said in an email to media. “Due to the unsafe manner in which the vehicle was being driven and the associated risk to the general public at that time of day, the pursuit was called off.” But just as police were being told to stand down, a man was seen jumping from the rearpassenger door as the Mustang continued to speed southbound on Lakes Road, from Calais Road. “This male passenger was arrested for possession of stolen property and is currently being investigated for his role in the stolen vehicle,” Pask said. “A search of this passenger resulted in an empty crack pipe being located.”
RCMP Police Dog Services attempted to locate the driver from where the Mustang was found abandoned, but the track ended at Doran Road. “Follow-up investigation has identi¿ed two individuals believed to be responsible for this incident,” Pask said. “Both individuals are known to the North Cowichan/Duncan and Westshore RCMP.” The vehicle, meanwhile, was seized and is awaiting investigation by forensic identi¿cation investigators. Anyone with information about this incident, or the identity of the driver, is asked to contact the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP detachment at 250-748-5522.
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