It took a spike belt and a police dog to track down the suspects in a car theft that took RCMP from Chilliwack to Hope.
Around 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 29, RCMP received a call about a car stolen from the 9300-block of Norwell Street in Chilliwack. Officers linked that call to a report of a suspicious vehicle in Yale, at the 31000-block of Douglas Street around 8:45 a.m.
Hope RCMP responded to that call, but the vehicle did not stop for police. It was later seen travelling westbound from Yale on Highway 7.
Agassiz RCMP met the car near the Highway 9 interchange, and used a spike belt to try and stop the car. The car did not immediately stop, and was found abandoned near Pixley Lane off Morrow Road not long after.
The Lower Mainland Integrated Police Dog Service also responded to the call and sent out Griff, a police dog with the unit, to track the suspects from the abandoned car.
Griff found a 33-year-old Hope man in the cedar hedge on the 7600-block of Industrial Way. Police took the man into custody; the suspect was released pending a court date in October 2019.
A 36-year-old man from Agassiz was also arrested, but released later that morning.
Agassiz RCMP and the Lower Mainland District Integrated Forensic Identification Service are continuing to gather evidence for the investigation. After a review of the evidence, it will be forwarded to the BC Prosecution Service for their assessment of criminal charges.
According to Upper Fraser Valley Regional District RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Mike Rail, the incident wouldn’t have ended the way it did without the work of police dog Griff.
“A team of RCMP and Lower Mainland Integrated Team resources were responsible for tracking the stolen vehicle across jurisdictional boundaries,” Rail said in a release. “However in the business of tracking it doesn’t hurt to have a ‘ringer’ like Griff in the field.”
grace.kennedy@ahobserver.com
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