03/11/16 Vancouver, Can. – Street Fight – Officers Jump Out – Woman Steals Marked Patrol Car – Crashes Into Store Front

March 11, 2016

vancouversun.com

Vancouver police are investigating after a woman took off in a marked police car early Friday morning in the Downtown Eastside.

VPD spokesman Sgt. Randy Fincham says at around 1:30 a.m., police were patrolling the area in a police car when they saw a fight at the corner of Columbia and East Hastings Street.

He says officers turned on their lights and siren, causing a suspect to run away. They parked their car in the south lane of the 100-block of East Hastings street and ran after the man, and arrested him around the corner.

Fincham say when the officers returned to their vehicle, minutes later, a woman had bypassed the vehicle’s immobilizer and stolen the car.

Police were able to track the vehicle by GPS to East Hastings Street and Willingdon Avenue in Burnaby, where the car had collided with a building. The driver, who was located and arrested a short distance away by Vancouver Police, was uninjured in the crash.

All items were accounted for inside the vehicle when it was recovered.

The woman believed to be responsible for the theft is facing charges of theft over $5,000 and possession of stolen property.

The man involved in the initial fight has been arrested on a Canada-wide warrant for break-and-enter.