Kamloops RCMP investigating after erratic driving leads to crash on Westsyde Road

Wednesday around the noon hour, a friend spotted the truck on the Halston Connector. The friend contacted the owner, Francis Payette, advising him of the truck’s location.

Payette tracked the truck down in Brocklehurst, and when the suspects started to drive away, he jumped onto the back of the flatbed.

That’s when the wild ride began.

RCMP say the truck careened down Parkcrest Avenue and hit a power pole before speeding down Singh Street, Ord Road and Westsyde Road. Witnesses indicate the truck was moving faster than 100 km/h with Payette clinging to the back.

While travelling north on Westsyde Road, the truck hit three other vehicles. None of their occupants were injured.

Speaking to CFJC News Wednesday, Payette says he knew it was a risk to jump on the truck.

“What do you do? Say goodbye to your truck and continue (to see) them doing more crime? Or let’s put an end to this?” said Payette.

“I proceeded to jump on, and immediately [the suspect] starts swinging the wheel. I could hear her throttle up going down the road, trying to dump me off at 100 [kilometres per hour], 80 [kilometres per hour]. Just flying. They proceeded to go down the road, hitting cars and swerving.”

The escapade came to an end when the truck crashed into a field near Clark Road at the north end of Westsyde, bursting into flames.

The two suspects were taken into custody, and transported to hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Payette was not hurt.

Cpl. Jodi Shelkie says RCMP recommend owners of stolen vehicles contact them without trying to get involved in recovering their vehicles themselves.

“We recommend that if somebody does see a crime or does see a stolen vehicle, that they contact the police and give us the details — give us the location of the stolen vehicle,” said Shelkie. “If you’re an owner of a stolen vehicle, don’t approach it. Contact the police and we’ll take care of it. It could have ended much worse than it did.”

“We’re very thankful that there were not more serious injuries to anyone that was involved than there were,” she continued. “This had the potential to really cause a lot of damage to people.”

Meantime, Shelkie says investigators will try to determine whether the suspects were purposefully trying to shake the truck’s owner off.

“Our investigation will include looking at whether the suspects’ behaviour and their driving behaviour was, in fact, (meant) to cause injury to the owner on the back of the pickup or to shake him off of the pickup,” said Shelkie. “If that is the case, it would be very serious charges.”

“Hitting the power pole, driving as they were, hitting other vehicles — we will definitely take that into consideration, that they may have been purposefully trying to injure the person on the back of the pickup truck.”

EARLIER: Police in Kamloops are investigating after reports of erratic driving followed by a crash.

Kamloops RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Jodi Shelkie says at 12:45 p.m. this afternoon (Oct. 16), officers received reports of a pick-up truck driving erratically, heading northbound on Westsyde Road.

Shelkie says a man could be seen on the flatbed of the truck as it was moving.

“Officers rushed down Westsyde Road and found that the pickup had left the roadway and crashed into a field near Clark Road,” Shelkie says.

A man and a woman inside the vehicle were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The man on the back of the truck is not believed to have been injured.

by James Peters / Ashley Legassic

Kamloops RCMP investigating after erratic driving leads to crash on Westsyde Road

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