'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
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.