Man loses leg during police chase in stolen police cruiser
Kelowna, B.C.
Web Posted - November 9, 2001

An internal RCMP investigation is underway in
Penticton after a bizarre string of events resulted in
three police cruisers being damaged, shots being fired,
and a suspect's leg being amputated. It all began late
Wednesday night when four young men stole several
bottles of liquor from a downtown bar. RCMP soon
pulled over a vehicle, and four men were put in
the back of two police vehicles. The two office's
only had three sets of handcuffs, and when the officers
turned their backs, the un-handcuffed man squeezed
through the plexiglass window into the front seat and
drove off, smashing into two other police cruisers.

Sgt. Pete Mclaren says, "He drove that police vehicle
directly at one of our officers narrowly missing him.
That officer dove out of the way. The other officer
that was in attendance thought that police officer was
being dragged under the vehicle. He fired two shots at
that vehicle in an attempt to stop the driver." One
of the shots hit the drivers side door, but no one was
injured.

The pursuit ended when the suspect drove the stolen
police vehicle up onto curb. The officer in pursuit
then used his car to pin the stolen vehicle against
a telephone pole. RCMP say at that moment, the
suspect attempted to get out of the door and his 
leg was crushed between the two vehicles. Penticton
RCMP have launched a full investigation into the
incident, which is being overseen by the Kelowna
serious crimes unit.


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