8/4/21 Colchester, CAN – Man Crashes Car – Breaks Into Home – RCMP Finds Him And He Runs To Woods – Comes Out And Steals RCMP Police Car – Drags Officer – Crashes Patrol Car

August 4, 2021

www.saltwire.com

An RCMP officer in Colchester County was slightly injured after a suspect in a home invasion dragged him with his police cruiser Sunday morning during a bizarre series of events.

Sgt. Andrew Joyce said everything started just after 6 a.m. on Highway 246 in West New Annan after a resident woke up to a noise in his home. The homeowner went downstairs and was confronted by a man with a weapon. The homeowner told the man to get out of his house and, message delivered, went back upstairs and back to bed, Joyce said.

He wouldn’t say what kind of weapon the intruder was holding. 

Not long after that, the suspect knocked on a neighbour’s door asking for help with his vehicle, which was off the road nearby and not working.

They couldn’t get the car started, but in the course of their conversation the neighbour discovered the suspect had broken into the first house. He went there to check on the resident, and then called police as the suspect started walking down the road.

At around 9:30 a.m., an RCMP officer on Highway 4 near Wentworth located the suspect walking after he was seen hitchhiking. 

When the officer approached the suspect in his cruiser, the man took a posture as if he had a weapon, causing the officer to stop his vehicle and get out into a defensive position. The man wouldn’t follow the officer’s directions and gave indications he wanted the officer to shoot him, then ran into a densely wooded area along the road. The officer was checking along the woods edge a few minutes later when the man ran out from a different area and jumped into the cruiser. 

The officer got there just a second or two later, but the man drove off and dragged the officer for about 10 feet until he was thrown to the road.

A passing motorist saw what happened and gave his car to the officer to pursue the suspect, who made it only five kilometres before crashing into another vehicle.

Joyce said the police car was most heavily damaged in the crash. The man was finally arrested and taken into custody. He and the occupants of the other vehicle and the suspect weren’t hurt. The officer was treated for minor injuries in hospital and released the same day.

Andrew Genner Pike, 29, of Stellarton, is scheduled to appear in Truro provincial court Tuesday morning to be arraigned in charges of aggravated assault, resisting a peace officer, motor vehicle theft, dangerous driving causing bodily harm, dangerous driving, break and enter, being unlawfully in a dwelling, mischief, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, possession of stolen property, being unlawfully at large and three counts of failing to comply with release conditions.

Joyce said police believe Pike was a suspect in another incident that occurred the previous night.

The investigation is continuing. Anyone with information is asked to contact RCMP or Crime Stoppers.