High speed chase in Neepawa

Details

Published on Friday, February 5, 2016

Photo property of Alan Gillies, GEM Media

By Eoin Devereux and Kate Jackman-Atkinson

The Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press

A Winnipeg man is facing a large array of charges in connection to a wild and, at times, dangerous high speed pursuit that ended in Neepawa on Friday, Feb. 5.

27-year-old Jesse E. Young is facing 16 charges, including impaired driving, flight from police, resisting arrest, assault of a police officer and possession of stolen property.

RCMP said that the incident began Friday morning, when officers received a report of a possible impaired driver who had just left a gas station in Gladstone after allegedly stealing fuel.\The complainant reported that the suspect was driving a white SUV and was heading west on Highway 16.

The vehicle was quickly located by police and efforts were made to stop the SUV as it made its way to Neepawa. 

At the corner of Hwy 16 and Hwy 5N in Neepawa, Spruce Plains RCMP Acting Staff Sgt. Mark Morehouse said that the suspect vehicle tried to turn north onto Hwy 5, but there was an RCMP vehicle at their side. The stolen vehicle then tried to get around the cruiser, but hit the median, collided with the cruiser and was spun around and left facing south. 

At that point, an officer attempted to arrest the suspect and was subsequently dragged by the vehicle. During this time, the officer fired his gun in an attempt to stop the suspect. The driver was not injured and the officer managed to free himself, suffering only minor injuries. 

Facing south, the suspect vehicle continued down Dominion Rd and collided with another RCMP vehicle.

 After driving a ways down Dominion, the SUV pulled off the road and came to a stop. The suspect fled and was later found and arrested.

The two collision sites were cordoned off by the RCMP as investigators conducted a search of the scenes on Friday afternoon and evening. 

Morehouse said that the vehicle was confirmed to have been stolen from Winnipeg.

Young appeared in a Brandon courtroom on Monday morning. The initial RCMP media release stated that Young was from Fort McMurray, Alberta. It has since been confirmed that he is actually from Winnipeg.

The incident remains under investigation.

The vehicle in the centre of the high speed chase. Photo property of Alan Gillies, GEM Media.

Photo by Eoin Devereux. Following the incident, the intersection of Hwy. 5N and Hwy. 16 was closed for most of the day, while police investigated the scene.