LONDON, ONT -- A 33-year-old Brampton, Ont. man is facing several chargers after a wild police chase on Highway 401 Sunday evening.
And a Sarnia couple travelling home from Toronto who witnessed the chase, got a far more exciting trip than normal.
“It’s just a sea of red and blue flashing lights,” says Jay McAuley. “You just kind of wonder, thoughts start going through your head. What’s going on?”
The couple began recording the scene, Jay driving, wife Olivia recording on her phone from the passenger seat.
What they captured was a harrowing scene, a five-tonne truck surrounded by at least 10 police vehicles swerving through all lanes heading westbound on the busiest highway in North America.
“It was being tracked with a GPS at some point," says OPP Const. Adam Crewdson.
The truck was reported stolen in the Greater Toronto Area, and OPP were notified when the truck entered Oxford County.
That's when the chase began, which continued down the 401 until a third attempt at deflating a tire was successful, bringing the chase to an end in a ditch near Dorchester Road.
“It was really impressive just how co-ordinated the OPP was with it too,” says McAuley, “and as much as I wish I could have got closer it was probably smart they had the cars ahead of us flank as well.”
The video offers a unique perspective of a rare public sight.
“People often don’t get to see what a life of a police officer is,” says Crewdson. “It just goes to show some of the risks that we have to deal with on a day-to-day basis.”
The driver of the truck attempted to flee the scene on foot before being detained.
A 33-year-old Brampton man has been charged with two counts of dangerous driving, one count of flight from police and one count of possession of stolen property.
He appeared in a Woodstock court Monday.