A chase involving patrol cars from Listuguj, in Gaspésie, and a van with a trailer caused a stir Wednesday evening in the streets of Campbellton.
The incident took place just after 6 p.m. on the territory of the Listuguj First Nation.
The local police department then received a call from a community member that a van with Ontario license plates was traveling at high speed on Riverside Road. Upon arrival, officers observed erratic driving by the driver as well as debris falling from the trailer attached to the vehicle. They then allegedly tried to stop the driver, but he instead continued racing at high speed on the interprovincial boulevard towards the JC Van Horne bridge, then towards Campbellton.
The pursuit traveled through the New Brunswick town before finally ending on Arran Street after the van overturned as the driver attempted to make a U-turn. Ironically, his vehicle overturned less than a hundred meters from the RCMP station.
According to Sergeant François Côté of the Campbellton RCMP, it is customary for a police force responding outside its coverage territory to notify the local police. This also confirms that this procedure took place.
“Usually, it is the local police who take over. In this case, everything happened so quickly that by the time we were informed of the situation by our colleagues in Listuguj and ready to intervene, the pursuit was over,” he emphasizes.
Fragments of the chase were filmed and posted on the internet. In particular, the van can be seen driving at high speed in a residential area of Campbellton.
“You can see it was really dangerous. At the time it happened, there was a real risk for the safety of the population. There could have been a lot more people and traffic. The incident could have had a much more tragic outcome. Fortunately, no one was injured, not even the driver,” said the sergeant.
He plans to contact his counterparts at the Listuguj police shortly in order to thoroughly review all the details of this pursuit.
Although the suspect was on New Brunswick territory, it was the Listuguj police officers who made his arrest. He is a 29-year-old man from Bathurst whose identity has not yet been released.
Charges of dangerous driving and criminal negligence will be filed against the driver of the van. According to Sergeant Côté, it is not impossible that charges will also be filed in the Court of New Brunswick since the individual has committed several traffic offenses on this side of the border.
