Image Credit: Contributed / Salmon Arm RCMP
Dangerous Driving

One injured in Trans Canada driving rampage that ended in Salmon Arm

Feb 13, 2024 | 12:18 PM

SALMON ARM, B.C. — A dangerous driving spree ended in Salmon Arm late last week — but not before two vehicles were hit and a third was run off the road.

In a news release, Salmon Arm RCMP spokesperson Cst. Andrew Hodges says the incident began late Thursday night (Feb. 8) in Golden.

A woman driving along the Trans Canada Highway with her two children in the vehicle told police she came across a white Dodge Ram 1500 parked in the middle of the highway with no lights on. She had to swerve to avoid hitting it.

The woman said the pickup caught up to her and rear-ended her vehicle before ramming the driver’s side and taking off westbound.

Once the truck arrived in their jurisdiction, two Revelstoke RCMP members in separate vehicles tried to pull it over. The truck sped into oncoming highway lanes to avoid them.

Officers later received a report that the truck rammed another vehicle and sent it careening off the road, giving the driver a broken bone.

Sicamous officers identified the truck and tracked it to Canoe, where Salmon Arm members had a spike belt set up.

Hodges says the members tried to pull the truck over again, but it again sped into oncoming lanes, avoiding the spike belt.

Eventually, members found the truck at a local gas station and combined to box it in. Mounties with guns drawn arrested the driver and now say it’s believed he was suffering from a mental health problem. He was taken to hospital for assessment.

RCMP will forward a series of charges to the B.C. Prosecution Service.