'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
Two killed after collision with truck on Hwy. 417 near Limoges, Ont.
Ontario Provincial Police say two people were killed after a car and a transport truck collided in the westbound lanes of Highway 417 near Limoges, Ont. on Tuesday afternoon.
Hulk Hogan, hurricanes and a blockbuster recording: A week in review of the Trump hush money trial
Crucial witnesses took the stand in the second week of testimony in Donald Trump's hush money trial, including a California lawyer who negotiated deals at the center of the case and a longtime adviser to the former president.
Canadian doctor concerned new weight-loss drug Wegovy may be used inappropriately
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
What a U.S. farmworker’s case of bird flu tells us about tracking the infection
A U.S. farmworker who caught bird flu after working with dairy cattle in Texas appears to be the first known case of mammal-to-human transmission of the virus, a new study shows.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
‘We made them safer and more fun’: Here’s what’s new about e-scooters
Electric scooters (e-scooters) have been gaining popularity in the capital and this season comes with some changes and updates.
Canadian Auger-Aliassime reaches first Masters final in Madrid with another walkover
Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime has advanced to his first ATP Masters final, and he hasn't had to play all that much tennis to do it.