Bonnyville RCMP Deal With A High Number of Chases

October 13th, Bonnyville Detachment received a complaint of an impaired driver weaving in traffic just east of town.  The vehicle was located west of town and when police attempted to initiate a traffic stop, the driver fled with three occupants.  The vehicle was chased into Saddle Lake where, with an assist from St Paul Detachment and our canine unit, all occupants were arrested.  The driver provided breath samples at over 3 times the legal limit.

“We certainly don’t start our day hoping for a vehicle pursuit to take place.  We understand that they can be very dangerous and we do balance our response against the risks involved.”  –  S/Sgt. Gandolfi, Detachment Commander, Bonnyville.

Bonnyville and surrounding area RCMP detachments have been dealing with a number of high speed or car pursuits over the last month. Along with the most recent case,  two other incidents have occurred in the last five weeks.

On September 9th, a stolen vehicle was pursued subsequent to an extortion attempt on a local victim from Glendon.  In that case the members utilized spike belts to disable the suspect vehicle and two accused men from the Glendon area were charged with fleeing police, dangerous driving, and other related offence.  No injuries were reported.

On October 9th, St Paul Detachment members were dispatched to an impaired driving complaint near the community of Ashmont.  The vehicle was located and when the members attempted to stop the vehicle, it sped away from members.  The vehicle was pursued into Bonnyville and Bonnyville members successfully deployed spike belts to disable the vehicle.  A BC resident was taken into custody and charged with several driving related offences.  He was not impaired by alcohol but may have been impaired by drug.