A suspect accused of assaulting a man, stealing his SUV, and ripping it from the city’s northeast to southwest Cranston — at times into oncoming traffic — was arrested early Sunday, Calgary police say.
Officers say reports of a carjacking in the 900 block of 32 Avenue NE came in at around 2 a.m., when the suspect approached a man, assaulted him, and fled with his black Honda CRV. The victim suffered minor injuries.
Witnesses tell police a vehicle fitting the description of the Honda was seen near Crowchild Trail by 17 Avenue SW, driving southbound into oncoming traffic at an “excessive speed.”
Officers added that HAWCS were on site and were able to spot the vehicle driving on Elbow Drive SW.
The individual then drove the vehicle into the Cranston community in the city’s southwest and looked as though they were preparing to carjack another vehicle, according to investigators.
Then, the suspect sped northbound on the southbound lanes of Deerfoot Trail and “posed an active threat to public safety.”
“Due to the elevated risk to public safety demonstrated by the suspect, patrol officers quickly moved in to stop the vehicle,” a news release reads.
Police have not shared details on how they apprehended the driver, but said he was taken into custody — and off city streets — just before 3 a.m. after driving off the road along Deerfoot Trail.
Staff Sgt. Mike Sushelnitsky says the incident created an “extremely dangerous” situation for everyone on the road, and required a “significant” amount of police resources to resolve.
“Given the actions of the person involved in this situation, there was some risk to the public that our service was forced to react to and take actions in order to end this person’s pattern of criminal behaviour,” he told 660 NewsRadio.
“There were no injuries as a result, and they were able to end the incident as soon as they possibly could.”
No charges have been laid.