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Kelowna  

One-man crime spree

A Lake Country man faces several charges after a two-day crime spree in Castlegar.

Sean Patrick Byrne, 28, faces potential charges ranging from dangerous driving to flight from police, theft and attempted robbery.

Tuesday afternoon, an officer attempted to stop a pickup for a burned out headlight near Castlegar, but it took off at high speed.

The truck sped off again when it was seen on a dead-end road, and another officer then spotted it on Robson Bridge, where it pulled a U-turn and struck the police cruiser as it sped away.

Officers attempted to set up a spike belt, but the truck took off yet again before it could be deployed and crashed on a sharp corner, hitting a cement barrier.

Byrne was taken into custody, and police found more than $10,000 in cash in the truck, along with a small quantity of suspected methamphetamine and cannabis.

Byrne was processed by police and released, but that wasn't the end of his spree.

The following morning, he allegedly assaulted and attempted to rob a woman who gave him a ride.

The woman managed to get away, but Byrne stole her vehicle.

Witnesses then observed the stolen vehicle speed through a construction zone, almost running over a flagger and several workers.

The suspect fled westbound on Highway 3 until he got a flat tire.

He then tried to force a passing pickup off the road. When it stopped, Byrne is alleged to have assaulted the driver and tried to steal his truck.

A passing semi driver stopped to help, and Byrne was subdued. But, he managed to negotiate his way out of it and then attempted to steal the semi. Eventually, the semi driver was able to gain and held Byrne for police.

He appeared in Rossland court today and has been held in custody until Dec. 6, at which time he'll face 13 charges including robbery, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, flight from police, impaired driving, assault, and assault with a weapon, theft, possession of stolen property, and drug charges.



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