One man and a youth were arrested following an alleged crime spree in Elgin County. Shortly after 6:00 p.m. on September 23rd, 2016, police tried to stop a pickup truck that had been reported stolen. The driver fled from Southdel Bourne and was last seen exiting from Highway 401 in the Shedden area. Police say the two suspects in that truck broke into a residential property in Shedden, stole keys for another pickup truck and fled in that vehicle after abandoning the first one on the property.
Police soon located the suspects in the second stolen truck on Talbot Line, where they failed to stop and collided with two police vehicles on Mill Road. The stolen truck then proceeded to Longhurst Line, where it collided with two more police vehicles. Police say that’s where the suspects abandoned the truck, flagged down a passing vehicle and assaulted the two occupants during an attempt to steal the vehicle. The driver and passenger were not injured, and were able to flee in their vehicle, leaving the suspects behind. The suspects then hid in a ditch, where they were apprehended by police.
Officers from Elgin OPP, Middlesex OPP, the OPP Highway Safety Division in addition to officers from the Oneida Nation of the Thames First Nation and the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation were involved in the pursuit and arrest of the suspects. Four officers who were in the police vehicles that were struck sustained non-life threatening injuries. They were treated and released from hospital. The police vehicles were significantly damaged and had to be towed from the scene.
The OPP Technical Traffic Collision Investigators (TTCI) attended the scene to assist with the investigation. Longhurst Line from John Wise Line to Mill Road, and Mill Road from Stafford Line to Third Line were closed overnight.
Two long guns were recovered in the stolen white pickup truck. Weapons charges and numerous other criminal charges are pending against a 26-year-old man from Haldimand County and a 15-year-old male who cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
