Suspected Merritt truck thief in custody after RCMP vehicle rammed

Mar 16, 2020 | 4:29 PM

MERRITT, B.C. — A suspected truck thief is in custody after allegedly ramming an RCMP vehicle in Merritt Sunday night (Mar. 15).

According to a news release from Merritt RCMP, the incident began near Merritt High School Sunday when the Dodge truck nearly struck an RCMP member investigating a suspicious vehicle call.

Mounties caught up with the truck again a while later near the south end of Merritt Avenue, when they learned it had been stolen in Merritt earlier that morning.

Southeast District RCMP Air Services had joined the investigation at this point, and found a trailer stuck in the snow on Iron Mountain Road. The trailer was also stolen and associated with the Dodge pickup.

Later that night, an officer saw the truck and a trailer in Merritt’s Diamondvale area. When a police dog handler tried to check the truck, the driver rammed a police vehicle and fled, heading toward the Coquihalla Highway north.