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Fleeing suspect smashes into police car in Abbotsford

Incident occurs after officers try to arrest man wanted on warrant
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A police van was damaged when a man wanted on a warrant fled the scene. (Kevin MacDonald photo)

A man who sideswiped a police van while fleeing officers on Wednesday night is still on the lam.

The incident began just before 5 p.m. in the 1800 block of Dahl Crescent in Abbotsford.

Sgt. Judy Bird said three members of the Abbotsford Police emergency response team were on their way to a residence to arrest the man, who was wanted on a Canada-wide warrant for a parole violation.

The home belonged to an acquaintance of his, Bird said.

As police turned down the street, they saw the suspect in a vehicle heading the opposite direction. They turned on their emergency lights to stop him, but instead the man sped past them, sideswiped their vehicle and went up a slight embankment into a yard before getting away.

Police were not able to apprehend him.

Bird said the man was driving a white 2010 GMC Sierra pickup with licence plate LB7085. The truck belongs to an acquaintance of his, Bird said.

Police are now looking for 33-year-old Ty Charles Dallan Burgess of no fixed address. He is 6’ 2” and 177 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.

Bird said no photo is available of Burgess. He now faces possible charges of assaulting a police officer, hit-and-run, and obstruction.

Burgess has an extensive criminal record. His current parole follows a jail term related to his role in the 2012 robbery of Ben Moss Jewellers in Richmond Centre.

In that incident, two men entered the mall and smashed the display cases at the store. Once outside the mall, one of the suspects, who was carrying a gun, was unsuccessful in his attempt to carjack a vehicle.

When the man tried to commandeer a second vehicle, he was apprehended by bystanders. A scuffle ensued, and the suspect fired a shot, but nobody was injured.

Burgess was sentenced in 2015 to a six-year jail term for his involvement in the robbery. Shane Buckner of Mission was sentenced to 10 years, and four others were also sentenced for being parties to the robbery.

In 2010, Burgess was sentenced to a prison term of more than two years for using bear spray on a 65-year-old Chilliwack homeowner during a botched home invasion.

Burgess was in the man’s basement when the homeowner returned to his residence. Burgess bear-sprayed him and fled toward his idling car.

After following Burgess and trying to prevent him from leaving, the homeowner was bear-sprayed again.

Burgess escaped, but the homeowner was able to jot down a description and licence plate of the vehicle, which turned out to be stolen.

The homeowner suffered a heart attack because of the incident, but recovered and later testified in court.

Two days after the home invasion, Burgess was arrested in Coquitlam for an offence in Abbotsford.

According to the provincial court database, Burgess also has prior convictions for possession of stolen property, break and enter, theft, assault, driving while prohibited and breaching his probation.

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Vikki Hopes

About the Author: Vikki Hopes

I have been a journalist for almost 40 years, and have been at the Abbotsford News since 1991.
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