Pair arrested after car chase

Photo: Contributed

A quick-thinking Salmon Arm RCMP officer helped nab a couple of car thieves red handed.

The officer just happened to run a check of a B.C. licence plate while on patrol in the area of Highway 1 and 30th Street. It turned out the vehicle was stolen.

The officer followed the white Ford Aerostar van to a rural area west of Salmon Arm. The suspect turned down a dead-end road. 

The officer positioned his police car to block the vehicle's escape. The van then turned and came back at the police cruiser in an attempt to escape, when it hit a snowbank and sideswiped the cruiser.

The van then tried to escape to the Trans-Canada on Piers Point Road, where officers had set up a spike belt. 

With two flat tires, the vehicle was slowed, and an unmarked police vehicle followed it without raising the suspicion of the driver.

The vehicle then turned off the highway and into a ditch on Tappen Beach Road. That was where a plainclothes officer arrested two people from the vehicle. 

A man and woman, both in their forties were arrested. Police have recommended six charges, including possession of stolen property, flight from police, and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.

Our officers and the suspects did not sustain any injuries as a result of the incident.