Officer injured in crash

Photo: Trevor Rockliffe

Police cruiser vs. truck vs. pole

Photo: Trevor Rockliffe

An injured RCMP officer walks to an ambulance after his cruiser crashed into a truck and a pole Tuesday afternoon.

UPDATE 4:00 P.M. 

RCMP have released more details about an accident that sent one officer to hospital and left vehicles banged up.

Cst. Kris Clark says it all began Tuesday at 3:50 p.m. when Kelowna RCMP responded to a theft of a vehicle that had just been stolen from a residence in the 800 block of Pettigrew Street.

“The Dodge pickup apparently impacted a house along the street before being abandoned at Bay Avenue,” explains Clark. “Police found the vehicle with ignition damage and a "club" still locked to the steering wheel.”

Minutes later, a second Dodge pickup parked on Bay Avenue was also reported to have ignition damage and the suspect description matched.

In response police established a perimeter and began patrolling the area in search of the male suspect.

Plain clothed officers located a man fitting that description, prompting investigators to quickly converge on the area.

As it turns out, the man they thought was the suspect was not their guy as moments later they received another call of the suspected man attempting to steal a fork lift from Sun Rype.

Police located the suspect on foot a short distance away. The 35-year-old Kelowna man remains in custody facing a number of potential theft-related charges.

As it turns out, the police officer (pictured) that was injured was actually hurt in a crash on his way to the scene.

“The RCMP member was travelling northbound on Ethel Street in a fully marked police SUV and is believed to have failed to stop for a stop sign when a westbound Ford F250 impacted the passenger's side at Crowley Avenue,” says Clark.

The officer suffered non-life threatening injuries and was taken to hospital.

Clark says the other driver appeared unhurt but was taken to hospital as a precaution.

The investigation into the crash is ongoing.

Clark also says police will continue to investigate the possibility that a number of other incidents in the area are related to the arrested man.

ORIGINAL

An RCMP officer was injured during a take-down of a suspected car thief late Tuesday afternoon.

The Mountie was injured when his police cruiser smashed into, and severed, a pole at the corner of Ethel Street and Crowley Avenue.

The police car narrowly missed smashing into the business on the corner.

The incident happened at around 4:30, when RCMP marked and unmarked vehicles swarmed an industrial area of the city.

The K9 unit was also called into action.

One suspect was seen handcuffed and bleeding from the head before he was taken away by RCMP.

The RCMP member was taken away in an ambulance. He was holding a compress to his head when he walked, without help, into the ambulance.

More details to follow. We will have exclusive video and photos from the scene.

Photo: Trevor Rockliffe

An injured suspect is handcuffed and taken into custody after the police incident Tuesday afternoon.