'I thought I was going to die': Manitoba woman says stolen SUV ripped through her backyard
A woman living in Elma, Manitoba, says she thought she was going to die after an SUV, later determined to be stolen, came tearing through her yard towards her home Tuesday night.
On Tuesday around 2:20 p.m., RCMP in Beausejour got a call about a suspicious person driving in the area. Mounties said the licence plate on the vehicle revealed it had been stolen from Winnipeg.
When an officer found the vehicle in a parking lot on Selch Street in Beausejour, they turned on the emergency lights and were about to get out of the cruiser. However, RCMP said the stolen vehicle reversed, slammed into the police cruiser, and then drove away.
The officer was not injured.
Officers in Lac Du Bonnet were told the stolen vehicle was heading their way, and set up a roadblock on Highway 15 in the RM of Whitemouth.
"The suspect vehicle stopped at the roadblock and officers spoke with the driver in an attempt to get him to turn off the vehicle and exit. However, he refused and fled," RCMP said in a news release. "Officers anticipated this might occur and had already laid out a spike belt."
RCMP said the vehicle drove over the spike belt and took off as Mounties continued to track it.
It was then that Bridget Barron, an area resident, told CTV News Winnipeg she had a harrowing experience. She had been in her home near Whitemouth River when she saw an SUV come tearing into her yard.
"All I saw was this SUV coming towards my window," she said. "I thought I was going to die, because when I saw that SUV coming I thought, 'That's it, I'm dead.'"
The driver ended up veering away from Barron's house through her backyard, losing car parts in the process, before coming to a stop on the riverbank behind her home.
"I ran to the back because I thought maybe somebody had a heart attack – that was my first reaction," Barron said. "Then the police came and they just told me to go back inside and lock the doors."
She said the entire area was locked down as multiple police units, including a helicopter, began searching the area. Mounties said with the help of a police service dog, a suspect was found hiding in a shed on a rural property.
"The suspect appeared to be suffering from an overdose," Mounties said in a news release. "Officers administered Naloxone and performed first aid until Emergency Medical Services arrived."
The suspect, a 26-year-old man from the RM of St. Clements, was taken to hospital and later released. He is now facing charges under the Highway Traffic Act, along with multiple criminal charges including possession of property obtained by crime, dangerous driving, failing or refusing to comply with a demand, operating a vehicle while impaired, and failure to comply with a release order.
The charges have not been proven in court.
RCMP said the investigation is ongoing.
-with files from CTV's Mason DePatie and Kayla Rosen
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Wildfire southwest of Peace River spurs evacuation order
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
World seeing near breakdown of international law amid wars in Gaza and Ukraine, Amnesty says
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
Train derailed in Sarnia after colliding with a truck
Police are investigating after a transport truck collided with a train in Sarnia.
Fewer medical students going into family medicine contributing to doctor shortage
As some family doctors are retiring and others are moving away from family medicine, there are fewer medical students to take their place.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.