Suspect rams cop car, flees in kayak
By Castlegar Source
What started out as a traffic stop on Old Spallumcheen Road near Sicamous BC, ended with Sicamous RCMP and an RCMP dog handler tracking a suspect in the Mara Lake area.
“At around 2:30 a.m. on Dec 28, a Sicamous RCMP officer had his marked police cruiser rammed by a vehicle that he had stopped on Old Spallumcheen Road near Sicamous,” said RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk. “The officer had just pulled the pick-up truck over when the suspect driver put his truck in reverse and rammed the marked police SUV twice. The male driver and sole occupant then drove away from the disabled police cruiser.”
Moskaluk said officers from Salmon Arm and a Kamloops Police Service Dog team were called out to assist.
“Officers located the abandoned vehicle along Mara Lake and noted a set of footprints leading down to the lake. Officers found other sign, which indicated that the driver had paddled away from the shore by hand in kayak. RCMP officers did not have a visual on the man, however had to simply drive to the other side of the lake where the RCMP Police Dog picked up a set of tracks that were also quite visible to the human handler and officers in the fresh snow. The fresh tracks led the officers to a residence where they located and arrested the 35-year-old male, who had broken into the resident’s garage. The male was suffering from hypothermia but uninjured otherwise as a result of his attempt to flee.”
Moskaluk said 35-year-old Justin Daniels remains in custody with his next court appearance on January 19, 2016, in Salmon Arm.
Daniels has been charged with the following:
- Assault PO with Weapon X 1
- Dangerous Operation of Motor Vehicle X 1
- Flight From Police X 1
- Possession of Break-in Tools X 1
- Break and Enter X 1
- Theft Under $5000 X 1 – For stealing a kayak and paddling across the lake.
- Theft of Mail X 19
- Drive While Prohibited MVA X 1
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Breach of Probation X 2
