Winnipeg police use spikes to end high-speed chase of stolen vehicle

Police engaged in a shortchase and used a spike belt before aman driving a truckwas arrested in Winnipeg Friday night.

Around 9:30 p.m., police spotted a truck that had gone through traffic lights and stop signs.

Winnipeg police Const. Rob Carver said officerslearned the truck had been reported stolen from outside of the city.

There was a very short pursuit ofunder a minute, he said.

"We aborted that pursuit because the suspect vehicle was actually starting to travel fairly high rates of speed, over 100 km/h," Carver said.

With the help of multiple squad cars, police eventually used a device called a Stop Stickwhich is a spike beltthat deflated one of the vehicle's tires.

The truck kept driving with the flat tire and ended up hitting another vehicle. Thedriver of the other vehicle was not injured, and there was minimal damage to that vehicle.

The truck also collided with a police car, which was moderately damaged. The officer driving it was treated for minor injuries.

"The vehicle is driving still at a high rate of speed with one blown tire and eventually it ended up going into a field in the area of Lagimodiere and Grassie Boulevard," Carver said.

Multiple charges

Three adult suspects were taken into custody.

The 26-year-old man who was driving the truck faces a slew of charges, including possessing property obtained bycrime and dangerous operation of a vehicle.

He was also charged with two counts of assaulting a peace officer with a weapon for hitting the police car.

Carver said there is a lot to consider before police use a spike belt, including how busy the road is and weather conditions.

"A big part of the training of uniform officers is not only the driving of police vehicles in potentially pursuit situations but also the use of spike belts," Carver said.

"It is a very intensive thing that we get retrained on regularly to make sure that it is done in a manner that keeps our officers and the suspects safe, as well as other people."

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