Teen Who Took Police on High Speed Pursuit Gets House Arrest
-
Share on Facebook
-
Share on Twitter
- Copy Link
LETHBRIDGE – An 18-year old who led police on a high speed pursuit that ended with a spike belt stopping his vehicle, has been given seven months of house arrest.
On February 22, 2016, an RCMP officer pulled Smith’s westbound vehicle over along Crowsnest Trail for swerving in front of him. As the officer approached the car it took off, and he started the pursuit, noting that the silver Honda was moving in and out of traffic, reaching speeds of 130-kmh while in city limits.
The officer was about to call the pursuit off for safety reasons, when the car turned off onto the “Tollestrup” road just before crossing the Old Man River on the way out of Lethbridge. The officer followed, but came to a stop when the car started back his way. He attempted to get out of the way, but Smith’s car struck the rear end of the cruiser, in what the Crown acknowledged was not an intentional maneuver. The officer opened fire with his service pistol, but failed to hit the vehicle, and it got back onto the highway and continued west.
The officer resumed the chase, joined by officers from Picture Butte and Lethbridge, with speeds now getting up to 150-kmh. They called ahead to inform police in Fort Macleod what was coming, and a spike belt was deployed, blowing out the tires on Smith’s vehicle and finally ending the pursuit.
