Spike belt deployed to stop suspects in truck theft, three charged

Three people from the Lakeland are facing charges after a stolen truck chase.

On Tuesday, October at around 8:00AM, Bonnyville RCMP got a report of from a truck owner that their vehicle had been stolen. With GPS in the truck, the owner was able to provide police with rough coordinates of the vehicle’s location.

While tracking down the vehicle, RCMP were notified that a second stolen vehicle, an SUV, was travelling with the truck in tandem.

RCMP said they followed the vehicles into Elk Point, when those in the truck ditched and hopped into the SUV to evade police.

Bonnyville members got help from Elk Point RCMP, Police Dog Services and Vermilion RCMP, and continued the pursuit, deploying spike belts on a roadway west of Elk Point to stop the suspects. 

All four occupants of the SUV were taken into custody by police.

Three from the pursuit were charged.

Jessi Benson, 32, from Cold Lake is charged with Flight from Police, Possession of Stolen Property Over $5000, Fail to Comply with Release Order, Obstruct Peace Officer and Operate a Motor Vehicle while Prohibited.

Luke White, 38, from St. Paul is charged with Operate a Motor Vehicle While Prohibited, Fail to Comply with Release Order, Theft of Truck and Possession of Stolen Property Over $5000.

Blair Cardinal, 30, from St. Paul is charged with Fail to Comply with Release Order.

All of the accused have a first court appearance date of October 18th.